


The Breaking

by MiladyDragon



Series: Dragon-Verse: Series Three [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Children of Earth Fix-It, Dragon-Verse, Dragons, F/F, F/M, M/M, Magic, Temporary Character Death, Violence, child endangerment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-07 18:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 95,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiladyDragon/pseuds/MiladyDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fae are watching.  The children are chanting.  Can Torchwood stop the end of the world?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Long Live Ianto Big Bang Round Two, and it quickly turned into a monster. I'm going to try to post a chapter every day until it's completed. A big thanks to totally4ryo who was my beta, and for madbottoms for the fantastic art.
> 
> I have changed the dates to reflect the fact that Great Britain doesn't start school until September, and not the original air date.

 

 

 

 

**_14 September 2009_ **

**_Day Zero_ **

****

 

Estelle Cole awoke that morning, knowing that something was wrong.

She sat up in bed, looking around the room to see if she could find the source of her feeling.  Her bedroom was just as it should have been, and she frowned.

But then she noticed Moses.

Her familiar sat just beyond the open door, facing down the hallway and toward the stairs.  Estelle could see the stiff set of his back, and his tail was bristled quite spectacularly.  A growl-like whine came from the cat, and Estelle was out of bed at the sound of it, heading toward the hallway and Moses.

Moses didn’t move, but his ears swivelled and his stance loosened a little, signs telling Estelle that he was well aware of her presence behind him.  The cat stood, and began slinking down the hall almost on his belly, and it obvious that every sense was alert to something only he could feel. 

Estelle could sense it, too.  There was a strange electricity in the air, the ozone sharp in her nose and on her tongue.  She called her power to her, and then checked the wards around her home; they were still intact, so whatever was going on hadn’t penetrated her personal sanctum.  She was, for the moment, safe.

Still, something was happening.  Something close by.   Estelle didn’t know if it meant her harm, but it was tingling her magical senses in ways she’d never felt before, and it was disturbing.

She followed Moses down the stairs and into the hallway below.  Her familiar let out another loud whine, and if anything his hackles rose even further.  Estelle let her senses guide her, and from what she was feeling that meant going into the kitchen. 

There was nothing out of place.  Even the tea mug she’d left out last night was still on the small table.  Estelle frowned at it, feeling as if it were somehow mocking her.  Picking it up, she made her way to the sink, the atmosphere still heavy about her but realising then that she needed to look out of doors to find the source.

Estelle sat the mug in the sink, and took a look out of the window in front of her.

There was a strange girl playing in her back garden.

She looked to be about ten years old, and was wearing what appeared to be a school uniform.  She had long blonde hair, and was skipping about the garden, her fingers trailing along the late summer blooms that still decorated some of the flowering bushes.  There was something off about the way the girl moved, and it took Estelle a few precious seconds to figure out that her body appeared to be skipping in and out of reality with every step she took, flickering like a piece of film that had jumped its guiding sprocket.

Estelle shivered.

The girl suddenly stopped moving, and turned to face toward the house. 

That was the moment Estelle knew exactly what she was dealing with, and her hands curled into fists.  Her power began humming through her, even though she knew she wasn’t nearly strong enough to face this threat if it decided to try to breach the defences around her home. 

The girl smiled, revealing inhuman teeth.

She waved, and beckoned to Estelle.  Almost against her will, the witch jerked toward the back door, Moses hissing at her in warning.  Grinding her teeth, Estelle stopped her forward movement, needing to meet this threat of her own will, and not because she was being summoned like some mindless lackey.  No, this _child_ wasn’t going to order her to do anything.

“It’s alright,” she murmured to Moses, reaching down and stroking his bristling fur.  Static electricity arced from her familiar and made her hand tingle.  “Stay inside.  Don’t come out unless I call you.”

Moses looked up at her, and Estelle interpreted his expression as being one of, ‘ _You are nuts but I shall do as you say.’_

He had never been very subtle.

Estelle unlocked the back door, taking a step out onto the small covered patio just beyond.  Her wards extended to the edge of the roof, and so she was protected as much as she could be in these circumstances, plus she had her own personal defences ready to cast.  “You wanted to speak to me?”

The girl stepped closer, almost to the invisible barrier of the wards.  Her presence would have once been a pleasant thing, back when she’d believed in the inherent goodness of her ‘special friends’, but Estelle was much more attuned to the world than she once had been, and she would never quite trust these capricious beings again.

 _“I did, lady witch,”_ the girl answered, her voice an unnatural sing-song.  The smile left her pixie features, and she stared at Estelle as if she could read into the older woman’s soul.  _“I am here as a Witness, and also because you understand our nature._ They _understand our nature.  We are a part of this world, and will be until the day the Earth burns for the final time.  You know this.”_

“I do,” Estelle agreed.  “What is it you’re supposed to witness?”

The smile was back, but there was something off about it…and not simply because it was a horrible, sharp thing on a face that should never wear that sort of expression.    _“The Breaking,”_ she answered. 

And, with that, she was gone in a cloud of sweet-smelling rose petals.

Estelle’s heart felt as if it had been stopped during their confrontation, and was just now restarting.  She drew in a deep breath and then made her unsteady way back into her home, reaching for her phone by sheer instinct.

It rang twice before it was answered.  _“Hey, Estelle,”_ Jack’s distinctive voice calming her far more than just being within her wards ever could.  _“How’s one of my favourite ladies today?”_

She took in a second deep breath, and then said as steadily as she could, “I just received a visit from Jasmine Pierce.”

 

 

********** 

 

 

 

Estelle had no idea how long it took Jack and Ianto to get there, but it seemed to equally take both forever and mere minutes.

It was with a sense of relief that she let both men into the house.  Jack looked angry, and he gave her a hug and an onceover, obviously checking to see if she was all right.  Ianto also hugged her, his personal magic mixing with hers and grounding her.  He was less angry and more concerned.  He guided her to her favourite chair and, after making sure she was comfortable, headed into the kitchen to make tea.

Jack sat opposite her on her sofa, and he leant forward, his elbows on his knees.  “Are you sure it was Jasmine Pierce?”

Estelle nodded.  “Yes, I’m positive.  There was a picture of her in the paper after her disappearance.  It was definitely her.”  Moses jumped up into her lap, purring fiercely.  She ran her hand down his back, and he settled in against her thighs.  “Plus, she was obviously a new-made Fae, because she was still mostly in her human form.”  The Earth Dragon had explained to her that it took several decades before a Chosen One was fully integrated into the magic of the Lost Lands.

Her former lover rubbed his face, sighing.  “What the hell was she doing here?”

“She said she was a witness,” Estelle answered. 

“A witness to what?”

“She said…the Breaking.  And, before you ask, I have no idea what she meant by that.”  It had been bothering Estelle as she’d waited for her friends to arrive.  She felt she should know what Jasmine was intimating.  “Although, for some reason I think I should, but it won’t come to mind.”

Jack frowned.  “She didn’t say anything else?”

Estelle shared their very brief conversation.   “And I’m assuming that the ‘they’ she spoke of were you and Ianto.  Which makes sense, with your histories with the Fae.  She said you would also understand, whatever that means.”

“As long as you’re okay,” Jack said, sighing.  “We can figure the rest out later.”

“I’m fine, but I got the distinct impression that she could have gotten through the wards on my house if she’d really wanted to.” 

Jack’s face went stern.  “You can’t stay here, if your wards won’t keep the Fae out – “

Estelle rolled her eyes.  She should have known this would have been Jack’s reaction; her former lover was extremely overprotective of those he cared about.  “I’ll be fine here, Jack.  I promise.  Besides, if the Fae really wanted to hurt me, they’d find me wherever I was.  You know that.”

She didn’t get to hear what Jack was going to say next, because Ianto came out of the kitchen, carrying Estelle’s favourite silver tray with a teapot, cups, and saucers on it.  A small jug of milk and sugar bowl came with it, along with a plate of Estelle’s good biscuits.  “She’s right, Jack,” the dragon said, setting the tray down on the coffee table.   He took a seat next to Jack, leaning over and pouring the tea.  “Milk and sugar, Estelle?”

“Yes, please.” 

Ianto prepared her cup, handing it over when he was finished.  He started on Jack’s.  “I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation, and you’re right, Estelle…your wards are very good, but against a concentrated attack of the Fae, they wouldn’t hold very long.”

He passed a cup to Jack and then began on his own, continuing the conversation as if Jack wasn’t glowering at him.  “But I’m more interested in this Breaking Jasmine mentioned.  Did she give you any clue as to what that was?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Estelle answered, taking a sip. It was perfect.  “But, I got the distinct impression that we should know what she was talking about.”  She’d learnt much about the Fae in her time living in the valley of Ddraig Llyn, but she honestly couldn’t remember a thing about something called that.                    “I also got the feeling that this was some sort of warning.  Although why the Fae would warn us of anything is beyond me.”

Ianto nodded.  “They would if it was in their best interests.”

“So what would be so bad that the Fae would want us to know about it, and then not say anything at all?” Jack fumed, setting his teacup down hard enough to rattle the cup on its saucer.

Estelle gave him a stern look at the rough treatment of her good cups.  Jack leaned back, pretending that her expression hadn’t, in fact, cowed him.  “Because that’s the way they are, Jack.  They want our help but just aren’t willing to ask.  They also want us to work for it.”

“The Breaking…” Ianto mused.  “What would Jasmine mean by that…?”

Estelle took one of the biscuits and nibbled on it.  “I think the question is,” she said once her mouth was empty, “what would the Fae want us to stop, and yet make a half-hearted attempt to warn us?  And why would they send one of their own to witness it?”

“Anything the Fae want us to do can only be a bad thing,” Jack put in.  “We can’t trust them.”

“Something is going to break…”  Ianto trailed off, and suddenly his face went pale.  “Gods and Goddesses, of course!”

“What is it?” Jack demanded. 

Estelle echoed the question, confused at the dragon’s reaction.

Ianto looked at them both.  “It’s obvious, isn’t it?  One of the many Pacts that the Fae have sworn is about to break.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**_15 September 2009_ **

**_Day One_ **

****

Jack hadn’t slept much the night before.

He was really disturbed by the fact that the Fae – that Jasmine Pierce – had appeared to Estelle.  None of the creatures had been seen since the last time, when they’d come for Jasmine, and Jack had hoped it would still be a long time before they’d have to deal with the Fae once more.  The first time had been bad enough, because if Jack hated one thing above pretty much anything else, it was having been forced to give that little girl to those bastards.  There hadn’t been any choice, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

He loathed those sorts of decisions.  It hadn’t been the first, and Jack knew in his heart that it wouldn’t be the last.  He would never be all right with it. 

Ianto hadn’t slept either, and he knew his mate was also worrying over what had happened yesterday.  He was trying so hard to work out which of the Pacts that the Fae had entered into would be the one that was on the verge of breaking.  Jack hadn’t realised just how many there were, and how important they were to the planet itself. 

The dragon also contacted Rhiannon Jones-Davies in Ddraig Llyn, hoping to get her input.  Ianto had hoped that she’d also heard something from the Great Dragons, who had been missing since the Daleks had kidnapped the Earth all those months ago, their power greatly diminished by the interference as they’d done all they could to protect their world.  But no, Rhiannon had told him that there was still no sighting of the Dragons, and Ianto had ended the call looking so depressed that Jack had had no choice but to embrace him tightly. 

Jack hoped that the Great Dragons were going to be all right.  He didn’t like even the hint that they were gone for good.

Their morning routine was interrupted by an alarm from the Hub, beeping over Jack’s wrist strap. 

Both got dressed quickly and headed out.  According to the alarm, a Mervin Williams had been taken to the A&E, complaining of chest pains.  Mister Williams was on their watch list, because he carried around with him what Jack had known was called a Hitchhiker, a parasitic lifeform that did no damage to their hosts, but would have to be removed before any well-meaning doctor tried to cut the man open.

“Excuse me,” Ianto said politely to the nurse on duty, “but a friend of ours was brought in earlier.  Mervin Williams?”

The nurse checked her computer.  “He’s in bay three.  But you can’t go in –“

“We don’t intend to,” Jack assured her.  “We’ll just wait outside for the doctor.”

The nurse nodded, and the pair made their way toward bay three, through what Jack thought was a more crowded than usual A&E.  They stood near an open bay where a scrubs-clad doctor and a couple of nurses were working over the man Jack recognised as Mr Williams.  From what Jack could recall, the older man had lived alone, and had no living relatives.  They shouldn’t have any problem getting access in case Williams didn’t make it, and if they did have any issues Ianto always carried a thermos of coffee laced with Retcon with him.

Always prepared was his Ianto.

Their standing there caught the doctor’s attention, and he gave them a look that was stolen away by the high-pitched whine of the heart monitor going flatline.

The bustle around the patient intensified.  One of the nurses dragged a defibrillator over to the gurney, and the doctor reached for the paddles.

“Charging…clear!”

The attending pressed the paddles to Mr Williams’ chest, and the man’s body jumped at the shock. 

The monitor was still in flatline.

“Two hundred charging,” the doctor called again.  “And…clear!”

He shocked Williams once more, but there was still no response.

The doctor sighed.  “Okay, let’s call it.”  He glanced up at the clock.  “Time of death…9:17.”  He handed the paddles back to the nurse, who set them into their slots on the defibrillator.   He then nodded to a second nurse, who began clearing away the various instruments they’d used to attempt to save Mervin Williams’ life.

“Did you know the patient?” the doctor asked, walking up to Jack and Ianto.

“We were his neighbours,” Jack answered.  He put on his best sad face. 

“He didn’t have any family,” Ianto added, making things up as he was going on.  “We looked out for him as best we could.”

“We did everything we could,” the doctor – whose name badge read ‘Patanjali’ on it – said, “but he didn’t make it.”

“What a shame,” Jack sighed, putting his hand on Ianto’s shoulder.

“Very sad,” Ianto replied. 

“Poor Mr Williams,” Jack said.

“Very sad indeed,” Ianto went on, and Jack thought his mate was going just a bit overboard.

“There’ll have to be an autopsy,” Dr Patanjali told them, “but it looks like his heart just gave out.”

“Brave old heart.”

Yes, Jack was going to have to say something to Ianto about keeping down the melodrama.

“You said you were neighbours?” the doctor asked.

“We lived next door,” Jack confirmed.  He’d guessed about the autopsy, since Williams had died without being seen by a doctor…which was Owen, set up carefully in an office near the man’s home and available when Williams needed to be seen.  It wouldn’t have been a good thing for someone to find out that ordinary Mervin Williams was carrying an alien parasite in his abdomen. 

They could have rousted Owen out to come and certify the death, but all they needed to do was remove the Hitchhiker and there would be no sign left that anything was hinky with the body.

“Well, I’m sure he appreciated you being there to look out for him,” Patanjali soothed.  “If only there were more like…you two in the world.”

Jack didn’t miss the hesitation, and once again silently cursed the 21st Century and its backward customs.  Instead, he rubbed Ianto’s shoulder and said, “I know it’s an imposition, but with us being such good neighbours…can we see the body?”

Patanjali looked as if he wanted to deny it, but in the end he nodded.  He glanced back at the bay, where the curtain had been pulled in order to hide the body.  Jack figured the call down to the morgue had already been made.

The doctor pulled the curtain back.  The nurses had cleaned everything up, and Mr Williams had been decently covered by a sheet.  Jack moved to one side, and Ianto to the other.  “Bless him.”

Ianto nodded.  “God rest his soul.”

It was all Jack could do not to laugh at his mate’s performance.  Instead, he bit the inside of his lip and asked, “Do you think we could get a moment alone?”

“Course you can,” Patanjali answered.  “Just come and get me when you’re done.  And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Jack replied. 

He waited until the curtain was closed once more, and then he tugged the covering sheet down.  Mervin Williams had been in his 70’s, but he didn’t look half bad for his age. 

Jack smirked at Ianto.  “Don’t you think you could tone your acting down a bit?”

“I think I was just fine,” the dragon retorted, bringing the bag he’d had looped over his opposite shoulder up and onto the small table next to the gurney.   “Although I didn’t appreciate his attitude toward us.”

“It’s just this century,” Jack blew it off.  He reached for the laser scalpel that his mate held out.  “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me,” the dragon growled as Jack carefully cut into the dead man’s abdomen.  “You’re my mate, and I’m proud of that.  We flew the mating flight!  It’s important to me that people accept that we’re together, even if they don’t know it’s for eternity.”

Jack could understand Ianto’s frustration.  After everything they’d been through, Jack did feel the same.  However, it would be decades before two men would be completely accepted as a couple…and who knew how long before people wouldn’t look twice at a human/dragon mating.   He often scoffed about this century’s labels and such, and sometimes it might have sounded like he was joking, but Jack was honestly boggled at how backward the people were.

Once the dead man’s stomach was opened, Ianto handed over the tongs he’d brought with him.  The dragon also pulled out a plastic container in order to store the now-dead parasite in.  “Hey, I agree with you,” Jack said, fishing around the open cavity.  “Okay, almost got it…”  With a sound of triumph Jack pulled the Hitchhiker from Mr Williams with an audible slurp.

The unmistakable rattle of the curtain being drawn open had both of them snapping their heads around to stare at Dr Patanjali, who managed to get out, ‘Oh, one more th –“ before obviously realising just what he was seeing.

Jack silently cursed.  Maybe they should have just claimed the body and took it back to the Hub…

“What the hell?” Patanjali nearly squeaked.

Ianto held out the container, and Jack waved the Hitchhiker toward the stunned doctor before putting it into the box.  “Now, look at that,” he exclaimed, feeling slightly evil because of the interruption and experiencing the need to freak the poor guy out.  “That’s not human.  Does that look human?”  He pointed the tongs toward the remains of the alien creature.  “No, it doesn’t.  But it didn’t kill him.”

Ianto must have caught on to what Jack was doing, because he added, “Some say these are positively beneficial.  They release endorphins into the bloodstream.  He died a happy man.  And I have Tupperware.”  He snapped the lid onto the container, burping the air out of it and then turning to slip it into his bag. 

“And we even clean up after ourselves,” Jack replied, using the laser scalpel to seal Mr Williams back up. 

“At least you clean up somewhere,” Ianto taunted lightly.  He now held a thermos in his hand, waggling it in order to get Jack’s attention.

Jack nodded, very glad that Ianto always came prepared. 

“That was mutilation!” Dr Patanjali accused.  “I could report you!”

“Go ahead,” Jack shrugged.  “Why don’t you?”  It would lead to nothing, because he had the best computer technician on the planet who could get rid of any files she wanted to.  Toshiko could also hack anything and had been known to take down eBay every once in a while, when she was bored.

The doctor’s eyes went wide, and Jack suddenly had the sensation that the jig was up.  “You’re Torchwood!  The whole city talks about you!”

“Never heard of ‘em.”  For a secret organization, their reputation was getting out of hand.  He’d have to sit down with the team and discuss ways of negating it.  After all, it was all right that the natives had heard rumours all of their lives, but putting that together with their Hitchhiker friend was just a bit too much.  And this guy didn’t seem to be Welsh, judging from his accent.

Patanjali didn’t appear to be buying Jack’s denial.  “There are bodies going missing, and I bet you could find out what’s going on!”

“What bodies?” Ianto asked. “Here have a cup of coffee.  You look like you could use it.”

“Thanks.”  Patanjali accepted the small Styrofoam cup the dragon handed him.  “It started a couple of months ago,” he went on, taking a sip.  “Damn, this is awesome.”

“Thanks,” Ianto said graciously.  “The bodies?”

“Yeah, bodies being taken down to the morgue, but then the records just stop.  Five of them.  Five in two months.  And none of them white.  One of West Indian decent, one African, and three Chinese.  All male.”  He yawned.  “Sorry, long shift.”

“That’s fine,” Jack assured him, grinning as he watched the Retcon in the coffee take effect.  He looked at Ianto.  “What do you think?”

“NHS.”  Ianto made the initials sound like a curse word.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed.  “Too much red tape.  But good luck with it!”  He would set Toshiko onto it when they got back to the Hub, just in case there was something to the doctor’s story.

“But, wait…” Patanjali yawned again, and Jack barely had time to set himself before the young man passed out practically in his arms.  Ianto reached forward to reclaim the cup so none of the coffee would spill.

“What dosage did you use?” he asked as he propped the fast asleep Patanjali into the lone chair in the room, an uncomfortable plastic thing.

“Couple of hours,” Ianto answered, twisting the lid back on the thermos and stowing it back into his bag, followed by the used cup. 

“Good.  We really need to do something about everyone knowing us.”

“Yes, it’s difficult to be a secret agency when everyone knows or is at least aware,” the dragon agreed.   He slipped the bag back over his shoulder, motioning Jack to leave before him. 

Jack ducked out from behind the curtain, pulling it closed once more when his mate was past.  Together they strode through the packed A&E, Jack noticing there were more kids than what he would have thought.  Wasn’t today a school day?

They had barely made it out to Ianto’s car when Jack’s mobile rang.  “Harkness,” he answered, slipping into Captain mode.

_“Jack, it’s Toshiko.  Where are you and Ianto?”_

There was something in Toshiko’s voice that had Jack’s inner alarms going off.  “We’re on our way back now. Mervin Williams passed away and we needed to retrieve his Hitchhiker.  What’s up?” 

_“Something’s going on,”_ she answered.  _“We’ll explain when you get back.”_

“Okay.”  Jack snapped his phone closed.  “Let’s get back to the Hub –“

He was interrupted by Ianto’s phone going off.

Ianto glanced at the caller ID.  “It’s Kathy.  What do you want to bet it has something to do with what Toshiko’s on about?”

“No bet,” Jack answered as the dragon answered the call.

They made it to the car, Ianto silent all the way.  He opened the boot, sliding his kit in as Jack opened the passenger side door. 

“We’re on our way in now,” Ianto finally spoke into the phone, making his way around the car and to the driver’s side.  “Toshiko called us already and let us know something was up.”

Jack got in, Ianto a beat later, still holding the mobile to his ear.  “We’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as we know, Kathy,” the dragon went on.  He disconnected the call, inserting his key into the ignition and sighing.  “I think things are about to get out of control,” he said, putting the car into drive and pulling out of the lot.

Little did Jack know just how perceptive Ianto was until everything was said and done.

 

**********

 

By the time they arrived at the Hub, the entire team was present.

Deborah was up and passing out coffee.  While hers wasn’t as good as Ianto’s, Jack still liked it, and thanked her when she handed him is usual mug when he and his mate entered from the garage entrance.  Ianto took his as well, nodding to the young woman and smiling his own thanks to her. 

The rest were hovering over various computer terminals.  Toshiko was glaring at hers as if it was insulting her, Owen and Rhys at her shoulders.  Patrick was at his own desk, doing his familiar two-fingered super-pecking as he did whatever it was he was doing.  Everyone wore expressions of various levels of concern, and it raised Jack’s hackles.

“What’s going on, kids?” he asked, making his way toward the main area of the Hub, Ianto at his side. 

Patrick spun around in his chair.  “Rhys and I were on our way in when we noticed it.”

Rhys nodded.  “Freaked me right out, it did.”

“What happened?”  Ianto asked.

“Rhys had picked me up like he usually does,” Patrick explained, his broad New England accent making his words sound even more ominous than usual.  “We were coming up to the local school when…well, the children stopped.”

Jack frowned.  “What do you mean, stopped?”

“I mean just that,” the American member of the team answered.  “I swear they just stopped moving, some of them in mid-stride.”

“I nearly hit two,” Rhys commented, turning pale.

“I thought one kid was gonna tip over,” Patrick went on.  “Anyway, they were like that for about thirty seconds, and then they started moving again like nothing happened.”

“I received a phone call from Kathy as well,” Ianto said, “and she reported that there several road accidents this morning involving children.  She didn’t say anything about the children freezing, though.”

“There were seventeen road accidents across the country this morning,” Toshiko reported, not bothering to turn away from her computers.  “They occurred all the way from Glasgow to St. Ives, and all of them were between 8:40 and 8:41.”

“The school run,” Deborah added, joining the team. 

“That doesn’t sound right at all,” Jack replied.   All of those accidents, all involving children and all at the same time?  No, Jack had learned a long time ago that there was no such thing as coincidence.

“There’s more,” Patrick said.

“He’s right,” Toshiko agreed.  “In France, the same thing happened at 9:40am.  They’re an hour ahead of us so it was simultaneous.”

Ianto leaned over Patrick’s console, setting his coffee mug down and tapping in some commands of his own.  “Here we go…reports from Norway…Sweden…Denmark…Luxembourg…”

“Germany, India, Egypt…” Toshiko added.

“Bloody hell,” Owen cursed.

That was Jack’s reaction, only he did not say it aloud.  He didn’t need the others to tell him that this had occurred worldwide.

Still, the recitation of countries continued.

“Most of America was asleep,” Patrick finished, “but there are even reports there as well.”

Jack had his mobile out, and he was dialling before he even realised what he was doing. 

_“Hello, Dad,”_ Alice answered, sounding rushed.  _“I hope it’s important because I’m just out the door to work –“_

“Alice, did anything happen this morning that seemed strange to you?”  He couldn’t help but be worried about his grandson.  If every other child had frozen, then Steven would have, as well, and he needed confirmation.

Alice paused, and when she spoke again she sounded confused.  _“No, nothing.  I had to tell Steven off for leaving the front door open, but that was it.”_

“Is Steven in school?”  Jack didn’t know whether to be relieved or terribly, terribly frightened.  If Steven had been unaffected…no, there had to have been something that Alice had missed…

_“Yes, of course he is.  Dad, what’s going on?”_

“We don’t know, sweetheart,” he had to admit, “but early this morning every child on the planet stopped moving, and I don’t think Steven was exempt.”

He can actually hear her swallow over the line.  _“I’m going to go and get Steven from school.  If something’s wrong…”_

Jack knew what she wanted to ask, but was afraid to.  His relationship with his daughter had improved by leaps and bounds since the Year of the Toclafane, but her suspicion of Torchwood was very deeply ingrained, perhaps too much to ever get her to enter the Hub.  “If you take him home, I’ll send Owen and Patrick out to check on you both.  Owen can take a look at Steven and make sure he’s all right.” 

_“Thanks, Dad.”_ Her relief was palpable.

“No problem, kiddo.  I’ll have them get ready and meet you when you get home.” 

_“I’ll need to call out of work, and then I’ll go and get him.  Thank you for the warning.”_

“I just want to make sure you and Steven are safe.”  He did.  There would be nowhere anyone could hide if someone ever hurt his family, and he knew Ianto felt the same. 

_“Love you, Dad.  And tell Ianto I love him too.”_

“I will.  See you both soon, okay?”

_“Okay.”_

Jack hung up, just in time to see Ianto disconnect a call of his own.  “I just checked on Rhiannon and Johnny,” the dragon explained.  He looked disturbed.  “The same thing happened in Ddraig Llyn.  Both Mica and David completely froze, as did the other children in the village.  She was just about to call me about it when I called her.  She’d been trying to reach the Great Dragons, but no luck.”

“All right.”  Jack straightened his shoulders.  “Owen, I want you and Patrick to head to Alice’s.  She’s going to pick up Steven from school, and Owen I want you to check him out.  See if you can find out if there’s anything physical that could have caused the incident.”

“Yeah,” the medic answered.  “I doubt it, but we can check.  Something this widespread probably means a telepathic element to it.  I can still scan for any abnormal brain activity and take blood samples.”

“Do it.”

Owen turned on his heel and headed toward the autopsy bay.  Jack knew he’d look after Alice and Steven; they were as much his family as anyone else was. 

“Patrick.”  Jack regarded the young man.  He knew that Patrick was somewhat taken with Alice, but he hadn’t even asked her out yet.  Jack approved; Patrick Everett Delaware was a good man, and had proved himself a friend and excellent field agent.  “Since we don’t know what’s going on, you’re along as bodyguard.  I want you to keep a lookout and report anything unusual.”

“Armed to the teeth, boss?”

Jack was aware of Alice’s dislike of weapons, but under these circumstances… “Armed to the teeth, Delaware,” he confirmed.  No one messed with his family, even if he really had no idea what was doing the messing…yet.

A sharp, tight smile curled Patrick’s lips.   “You got it.”  He got up from his seat and made his way toward the armoury. 

Hiring him as a weapons officer had been one of the best decisions he and Ianto had ever made. 

“Deborah.”

The young woman who had once been Emma-Louise Cowell nodded.  “Yes, Jack?”

“I want you to keep up normal appearances, but you’re our eye on the Plass.  I want you on CCTV up in the Tourist Office, and you call us if you see anything that’s unusual.”

“I shall.”  The alarm on the cog door announced her leaving.

“Rhys, I want you to pull up as much CCTV as you can,” Jack continued.  “I want to see what this looked like, and I want as many examples as you can get.  Get on to the online video sites as well.  Also, call up Kathy and tell her we’re working on this.  Give her as much as we have.”  Which wasn’t a lot, but Jack wanted to keep Kathy in the loop.

Rhys nodded.  “You got it.”  He took Patrick’s seat and began using the computer one-handed, pulling his mobile out with the other.

“My beautiful Toshiko.”  Jack touched her shoulder.   “Dig up everything you can.  And I mean everything.  You know what to look for; anything that might give them some sort of clue.”  He trusted her to go as deep as possible.

“Already working on it,” his technician answered.  She glanced up and gifted him with a slight smile, and then went back to work.

“Ianto.”  He glanced at his mate.

He held up a hand.  “I already know what you’re going to say, Jack.  Contact the Home Office.”

Jack grinned.  “Are you sure you’re not telepathic?”

“No…I just know you, and you loathe dealing with Frobisher.”  Jack was aware that Ianto did, as well.  The dragon thought the Permanent Secretary was a humourless, officious example of what were the worst characteristics of a civil servant.   “And I suppose you’re going to contact UNIT?”

Jack hated dealing with Oduya just as much as Ianto did Frobisher.  He missed Colonel Mace, but he’d been seriously injured during the Stolen Earth incident and wasn’t back on active duty yet.  “Yeah, because you know I’m just so popular with them.”

Ianto simply rolled his eyes, and took out his mobile.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**_15 September 2009_ **

****

****

The bad thing about mobiles was that a person couldn’t slam the receiver down when one was pissed off.

Ianto barely contained the urge to throw the thing, though.

It wasn’t the girl’s – she’d said her name was Lois – fault.  She couldn’t help it if today was her first day and hadn’t a clue as to what Torchwood was. 

Still, it had been like running into a brick wall.  The girl hadn’t budged when Ianto had requested to speak to John Frobisher, and there really hadn’t been a lot he could have done about it.  Certainly, he could have called and hoped to have gotten Bridget Spears, but if the Home Office was so busy that a temp was left to answer the phone, then the chances of reaching someone in some sort of authority was very small. 

“Damnit,” he sighed. 

“You got nowhere, either?” Jack’s voice had him turning to meet his mate’s own frustrated gaze.

“Not a thing.  Got a temp though, first day, who didn’t have a clue.”

“Not the best day to start a new job,” Jack commiserated.  “But it couldn’t have been worse than the sergeant I got at UNIT.  Apparently Colonel Oduya was off base.”

“Well, Frobisher was in a meeting.  Want to bet who he was meeting with?”

“No bet,” Jack answered wryly.  “It’s going to be Her Majesty next, if I don’t get a return call.”

“Bringing out the big guns?” Ianto teased. 

“Damn straight.  Now, let’s see if Rhys and Tosh have anything interesting.”

Ianto followed his mate down into the main Hub once more, making a beeline toward Rhys first.  “Please tell me you have something,” Jack begged.

Rhys shook his head.  “Sorry, Jack.  I have a lot of images but nothing that tells us what really caused the kids to freeze like that.  There’s nothing up on YouTube and the what-not…yet.  I think it was just too subtle for the majority of people to notice.”

Ianto clapped him on the shoulder.  “Keep at it, all right?”

“Sure, mate.  I’ve sent the CCTV footage to your computer so you can check it out yourself.”

When they’d hired Rhys after the space whale, none of them had known just how useful the man would prove to be.  While he wasn’t anywhere near Toshiko’s and Ianto’s own prowess with the mainframe, he could still run searches and find things that others might overlook.  He was also a solid field agent who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and had taken over a lot of the in-Hub duties that Ianto had once performed.  Rhys Williams had clicked into place seamlessly and with surprising ease.

Once he’d gotten out from under the shadow of Gwen Cooper, Rhys had blossomed into a fast friend and someone Ianto trusted to watch his back.

“I also spoke to Kathy,” Rhys went on, “and she says that she’d appreciate we didn’t wreck the city if we could avoid it.  I told her ‘no promises’.”

“Good man,” Jack said approvingly.  “She didn’t cuss you out too much?”

“Nah, she likes me.”

Ianto laughed, and then headed over to Toshiko’s workstation.  “Anything yet?”

“You remember the attempted hack job that the Home Office tried on us a couple of months ago?”  Ianto nodded.  “I’m getting pinged along that route again.  Someone’s trying to get in…not that they’ll have any more luck than they did the last time.”  She sounded fierce, and Ianto knew that no one messed with Toshiko’s mainframe.

“Will the partitions hold?” Jack asked.

She looked at him as if he’d just grown a second head.  “Of course they will.  As far as whoever is hacking, is only going to be getting false information.  There is no way they’re getting past me.”

Ianto pitied the person who got on Toshiko’s bad side.

“Anything else?”  Jack put both hands on her shoulders, kneading gently.

“It looks like most of the bigger agencies noticed,” she answered.  “UNIT has gotten its hands on a couple of children, as have SHIELD, but there aren’t any results back from whatever it is they’re testing for.  I’ll let you know what else I get.”

“Sounds good.”  Ianto could have guessed that it was a bit early in the day to get a lot of information, and he really hoped that nothing else would happen.

Although he just knew it was going to get worse.

Jack didn’t look happy.  “I could always call Martha, let her know what’s going on…”

“If she didn’t notice it already,” Ianto replied.

“Don’t you dare call her,” Toshiko snapped.  “She and Tom deserve their honeymoon.”

She was right, but Ianto also knew Martha Jones very well; she’d be on the next plane home the moment things went to hell, and Tom would follow her.  Doctor Milligan might not be an official part of either Torchwood or UNIT, but he did remember the Year of the Toclafane very well, and had been a member of the Resistance, partnered with Owen a lot of the time. 

They’d both be on their way back and wouldn’t accept any arguments to the contrary.

Jack’s mobile rang, and he flipped it open.  “Harkness.”

Ianto watched as his mate’s expression changed from worry to a semblance of calm.  He mouthed _‘Alice’_ and the dragon nodded in acknowledgement.  He wanted to listen in, but instead left Jack to it and moved so he could see over Toshiko’s shoulder as she worked. 

“Staring at the screen isn’t going to change anything,” she teased. 

“Do you have any idea what the Home Office is after this time?” he asked.

“No, but this can’t be a coincidence.  Something happens with the children and the Home Office decides it’s a good time to try to get a peek into mainframe?  No way.”

Ianto had to agree.  Sure, many of the alphabet agencies often tried to get one up on each other, and this wasn’t the first time someone tried to get into their systems.  They never succeeded, although Toshiko liked to play and would feed them disinformation for fun.  She’d made up some of the funniest things to let whoever it was find in partitions that kept anyone far away from the heart of mainframe.

Ianto was particularly fond of the one that blamed the Rift on Jack’s immortality. 

“Patrick and Owen got to Alice’s and Owen is looking Steven over,” Jack said, re-joining them.  “Steven seems fine but Alice is worried.  Not that I blame her.”

“I know.”  Ianto looped his arm around his mate’s waist.  He was concerned about Steven as well.  The dragon was very protective of his family and he didn’t like it when something happened to one of them.

Ianto’s phone rang at that moment, and the caller ID showed that it was Deborah up in the Tourist office.  He answered it, and didn’t even have time to speak before she said, _“It’s happening again, Ianto.  Up in the Plass.”_

“We’re on our way.”  He didn’t even flip his phone closed before he was informing the rest of the team.  “Up on the Plass. The children have frozen again.”

With that, Ianto took off, nearly hitting the bars that protected the cog door in his rush.  He knew that at least Jack was following him by the sense he had of his mate.  Ianto’s heart was racing, and not from the exertion.  Whatever was causing the children to act this way, he needed to see it in person if just to understand what his adopted grandson was going through.

He exploded out of the secret door and into the Tourist Office.  Deborah wasn’t at the desk, and the outer door was open.  The dragon raced out onto the Quay, his footsteps echoing out over the Bay as he ran, catching up with their receptionist and then passing her.  Other steps sounded behind him as he headed up and out onto the Plass, where he could see that there were several children standing still.

And then the screaming began.

Ianto wanted to cover his ears but he didn’t dare.  Whatever was affecting the children was now making them shriek in unison, and there was nothing more he wanted to do than to stop that horrible noise.

“What the hell?” he heard Rhys exclaim.  The dragon turned, and saw him with a video camera, taping the nearest child. 

Jack was standing close by, and he put his hand on Ianto’s shoulder.  The dragon could feel him trembling slightly through that contact.  “We need to figure this out,” he said, and Ianto knew his mate was thinking of his grandson, because this had to have been happening to Steven as well. 

Ianto felt the same.  Steven was now as much his family as Jack and Alice were, and he hated to know that something was affecting him and they didn’t know what it was.

The shrieking stopped, and silence fell once more.  The mother of the little girl Rhys was filming was frantically trying to get her child to respond, but she simply stood there, staring straight ahead.

It was possibly one of the spookiest things Ianto had ever seen in his entire life.

It had been only a few moments after the screaming stopped that the children began to speak…in unison.

_“We…we…we…we…”_

The words were said in the children’s’ voices, but there was an underlying alien-ness in the repeated words that sent a shiver down Ianto’s spine.  Jack physically shuddered, the involuntary movement travelling to the dragon through the hand that was still resting on his shoulder. 

_“We are…we are…we are…we are…”_

Ianto stiffened at the change in the chant.  He leaned back against Jack, just for the support.  Jack let him, and the dragon could feel his mate’s rapid heartbeat against his back.  It was fear, pure and simple, and Ianto was feeling the exact same way.

What was doing this?  It had to be something alien; humans wouldn’t have the wherewithal to take over every child, all over the world, unless Torchwood had somehow missed something.  And Toshiko never missed anything in her covert hacks into various agencies’ computer files.  

He had to get some sort of reading on this.  He managed to pull his PDA out of his pocket, aiming it at the same child that Rhys was filming.  His hands were almost shaking too hard to turn the device on, but he managed. 

_“We are coming…we are coming…we are coming…we are coming…”_

Ianto shivered.  It was a message…and a warning.

Yes, this had to be an alien influence.   There was no other explanation.  “Blood control?” he questioned softly, so only Jack could hear.  He recalled what had happened with the Sycorax, and this reminded him a little of that.

He still remembered Suzie standing on the roof of the Millennium Centre, so still and silent. 

“No,” Jack answered.  “I don’t think so.  It seems far too invasive to be blood control.”

“Who’s coming?” Rhys demanded.

The child didn’t answer, which didn’t surprise Ianto.  But it had to be tried.

The little girl went through one more round of chanting, her mother growing more and more frantic the longer it went on.  But, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over, and the girl was blinking and staring up at her Mum.  “Why is that man filming me?  Am I gonna be on the telly?”

The mother obviously hadn’t noticed what Rhys was doing, so distracted by her daughter.  She frowned up at Rhys, and then practically grabbed the little girl and dragged her off.

“What caused that?” the Welshman asked, turning off the camera.

“Hopefully we’ll know soon,” Ianto replied, slipping his PDF back into his pocket.   He was so glad that was over, he couldn’t even express it.  This was something unnatural, something that needed to be stopped as soon as they could. 

“Ianto,” Jack murmured.  The dragon felt his mate turn him gently, until he was facing to his right.

That was when he saw Jasmine Pierce.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**_15 September 2009_ **

 

Ianto would recognise her anywhere.  She was wearing a school uniform, her blonde hair pulled back from her face by a black headband.  She looked just like any other child on the Plass…

Except she wasn’t.  To Ianto’s magical sight, Jasmine had changed from the girl he and Jack had helped go to the Fae.  She was more Fae than human now, although on the outside she still resembled her old self. 

Until she smiled, of course.  And then it was obvious she was something different.

Ianto moved away from Jack’s body heat, and strode toward the Fae child.  She knew what was going on, and he was going to confront her until she explained.

“It’s the Pact about the Chosen Ones that’s in danger of Breaking,” he said, not bothering to make it a question.  It was obvious now, that he’d seen the children chanting like that.  It was the only one that made sense to him; it was the only Pact that had anything to do with the human young ones.

She glanced up at him with unnatural eyes, and there was a sense of vague amusement about her.  _“Is it not obvious, Ancient One?”_

“Yes it is,” he snapped.  “But what causes the Breaking?  What does this chanting have to do with it?”

The amusement from Jasmine was suddenly gone, and in its place was uncertainty.  _“I have been sent to Watch.  That is all I can do.  But, I say that this is not of our making, and if not stopped the Fae do not even have to destroy the world; it will be done for us.”_

With those cryptic words, Jasmine vanished in a whirlwind of rose petals.

‘Well, that was incredibly _not_ helpful,” Jack said sarcastically from just behind Ianto, and it was all he could do not to jump in surprise.

“They’re the Fae, Jack.  They’re worse than the Great Dragons for vagueness.”

“What the hell?” Rhys exclaimed. 

Ianto turned to look at their teammate.  “It’s a long story, Rhys, but I think it needs to be dragged out again.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but his mobile began to ring.  He flipped it open.  “Harkness…yes, Alice…”

The dragon took Rhys’ elbow, leaving Jack with a semblance of privacy.  “Let’s get back to the Hub, and have Toshiko analyse your film and my scans and see what she can come up with.”

They met Deborah back at the steps leading down to the Quay, before glancing back at Jack.  His mate had followed them at a slight distance, and Ianto could hear part of the conversation.  It sounded as if Alice had given the phone to Owen, judging from the tone of his mate’s questions.  As they watched, he closed his phone.  “Come on,” he urged, stepping forward and putting his hand on Ianto’s back.  “Owen’s on his way back now.  He managed to get scans and blood samples from Steven before and during the chanting.”  He urged them all forward, and together they made their way back toward the Tourist Office.  “Patrick is going to stay with Alice and Steven and keep an eye on them.”

“Isn’t it about time he ask Alice out?” Deborah teased. 

Jack snorted.   “He’s afraid of her.”

Rhys laughed.  “Can’t blame him there, mate.  Alice can be downright scary.”

Ianto had to agree with that sentiment.  Alice was more dragon-like when her temper was up than anyone he’d met.  He had always wondered vaguely if it had to do with her bond with the Air Dragon.

Once they were back in the office, Jack said, “Deborah, I hate to leave you up here on your own –“

“I can take care of myself, Jack,” she answered, rolling her eyes at him.

“I know you can, sweetheart.  We just need to have someone keep a lookout on the Quay.  We’re going to be down in the boardroom, so I want you to tune into the system and keep an ear on the meeting, like you usually do.” 

Toshiko had long ago set up speakers in the Hub proper, when it was decided to have the office manned constantly.  It hadn’t been fair to leave Ianto out of the loop at the time, just as it wasn’t fair that Deborah be left out.  The actual headphones looked like something that could belong to a small MP3 player and plugged directly into the computer in the Tourist Office.

Deborah nodded.  “Will do.”  She headed around the counter and pushed the button to let them into the Hub. 

As they descended, Jack said, “Ianto, I want you to run the meeting.  I’m going to try to get Frobisher off his ass and talk to me.  He has to know by now something big is happening and we need to know what the Home Office is up to.  I’ll join you when I’m done.”

“All right, Jack.”  Ianto didn’t mind; he knew more about the Fae than anyone in the Hub, and it would be simple to explain.

The alarm on the cogwheel door sounded, and Jack strode up to his office like a spirit of wrath.  Ianto knew he was getting quickly pissed off, but he didn’t pity John Frobisher one bit.

“Boardroom,” Ianto announced.  “Tosh, transfer your work to the computer terminal there and join us, please?”

The technician nodded, typing in the proper commands. 

Ianto’s flicked up toward Jack’s office.  His mate was already on the phone, and the dragon could tell his mood wouldn’t be getting any better anytime soon, if the expression on Jack’s face was any indication.  Jack was right, though; they needed to know if the Home Office had any information that Torchwood didn’t have, and Jack had to exert his authority if they were to get anything from Frobisher.  The Permanent Secretary didn’t care at all for Torchwood, even though they’d saved the planet several times in the past, and it had gotten worse since the Stolen Earth incident.

Shaking his head, Ianto followed Rhys and Toshiko into the boardroom.  Toshiko immediately sat in her usual place, pulling up the screen on the laptop that was there for her use, and Rhys grabbed the seat next to her. 

Ianto leaned over the middle of the table toward the conference phone that sat there.  He dialled Owen’s phone, the acerbic doctor answering on the third ring.  _“This better be important, Dragon Boy.”_  It was obvious he was in the car on the hands’ free, judging from the engine sounds.

“It is,” he promised.  “I’m going to get Patrick into the meeting as well.” 

That took only a few seconds, and their weapons officer was conferenced in.  Patrick had apparently put his phone on speaker, due to the echo on the line.  Ianto approved; this did concern Alice as well. 

“Jack will be joining us shortly,” Ianto said, once he had everyone’s attention.   “But we have some information that we needed to discuss immediately.”

“That sounds ominous,” Toshiko said, taking her glasses off and leaning back in her chair.

“It is,” Ianto affirmed.  “Tosh, you and Owen were here when he dealt with the Fae a couple of years ago.”

A string of curses sounded from the conference phone.  Yes, Owen was not at all happy. 

“Exactly,” the dragon agreed.  “Deborah, Rhys, and Patrick only know what would have been in the file, but there’s more that you don’t know about that wasn’t in the official report.”

“The file’s not complete?” Rhys asked incredulously.  Ianto could understand; his teammates knew just how anal he was when it came to the completeness of the Archives.

Ianto nodded.  “There were some things that we didn’t add, but that are in other files in the Archives.”

He went on to explain about the Ice Age, and how the dragons had helped broker a Pact between the humans and the Fae in order to save their race.  He told them of the Chosen Ones, and how that was the price humanity had paid to preserve themselves.  He touched on what had occurred the last time the Fae had come to take away their chosen child, and how he and Jack had handed her over in order to keep the world from being destroyed. 

_“That must have been a really hard choice,”_ Patrick said. 

“It was,” Ianto answered.  “We didn’t want to do it, but Jasmine really wanted to go with them.  Trust me…she was happier going with the Fae than staying in a loveless home.”

_“Is that who they choose?”_ Alice asked.  She didn’t sound very happy.

“Yes.  The ones that are in abusive homes, whose parents ignore them, who would have either fallen through the cracks or been badly hurt or even killed; plus they have to want to go with them.  Sometimes a child will decide to stay, and the Fae have to respect that decision.”

There was silence from the phone, and Ianto knew that Alice would want to talk to them about it the next time they were together.  He could understand her being upset; it had upset her father when he’d had to make that particular course of action. 

He then went on about Estelle calling Jack yesterday, and how she had claimed to have seen Jasmine Pierce in her back garden.  “Jasmine had mentioned something about the Breaking, and how she was a witness to it.  And then, today she showed up on the Plass when the children began chanting.”

_“Bloody hell,”_ Owen cursed once more.

“Wait,” Toshiko said, “I thought that once a Chosen One went into the Lost Lands, they wouldn’t come back.”

“They can’t, not for a long while,” Ianto confirmed.  “They need to be acclimatised to the Lost Lands and complete their transformation into full Fae.  So her showing up as a child now is very unusual.”

“That’s crazy,” Rhys exclaimed.  “Just when I think I’ve seen it all here…”

“That will never happen,” Ianto laughed.  “Torchwood will always surprise you.”

_“That’s why it’s never boring,”_ Patrick answered.  _“Really makes me glad I quit the FBI for this gig.”_

“All right,” Toshiko said, bringing them back on track, “if Jasmine is appearing now, and the children are at the centre of what’s going on…”

“Yes,” Ianto confirmed.  “Jasmine is here to watch the Breaking of the Pact between humans and Fae.”

“But that would be good for them, wouldn’t it?” Rhys asked.  “I mean, if what you explained to us about the Pact was on, then they’d want to break it so they could take any child they wanted.”

“That’s what you’d think.  But from what Jasmine intimated, this is going to be a bad thing, and the Fae don’t want it to happen.”

Anything that was going to be said was lost as Jack came storming into the boardroom.  His expression was thunderous, and Ianto wondered if he’d managed to murder Frobisher through the phone connection. 

“That…bastard!” his mate swore.  “He’s avoiding me, I know it, and letting some poor temp take the brunt of me being pissed at _him_!”

“Was the temp’s name Lois?” Ianto asked.

“Yeah, I feel sorry for her,” Jack said.  “Bridget Spears wouldn’t even take the call.  Supposedly Frobisher is out of the office, but we’re in the middle of a crisis and he just goes jaunting off somewhere?”

“Jack, calm down.  Frobisher might be at Thames House or Downing Street.  I’m sure he’s not purposely ducking you.”

Jack gave him a look full of disbelief.

“Alright,” Ianto conceded.  “We know he doesn’t like Torchwood, so I’m willing to accept that he might be dodging you.”  Ianto disliked Frobisher about as much as Jack did. 

“Well,” Toshiko spoke up, “then you might want to hear that it was definitely the MI5 and the Home Office attempting to hack us earlier today.”

“No surprise there,” Jack said. 

“True.  I’ve caught them at it before, and I’ve even fed them false information.  It keeps me from being bored.”

“MI5 used to drive Hartman nuts,” Jack chuckled.  “They tried to get agents into One on several occasions, and there was nothing guaranteed to get her into a raging snit more than to be told she had a mole her in precious Tower.  It was quite entertaining.”

“It can’t be a coincidence, though,” Ianto pointed out, “that the hacking started up again today, of all days.”

“No, I agree,” the technician answered.  “I’m still working to get a worm into their system to see if they were looking for something in particular, but they aren’t exactly slouches in the security department and it’s going to take some time.”

“Do what you can,” Jack encouraged.  “Something hinky is going on and I want to know what it is…besides the children, of course.”

There was a snort from the conference phone.  _“I see Patrick’s corrupted you, Dad.”_

Jack looked confused.  “What do you mean, sweetheart?”

_“You just used the word ‘hinky’ and I’ve only ever heard Patrick use that before.”_

Ianto couldn’t help but snicker, and he was joined by the others.  The laughter cleared the tense atmosphere, which in the dragon’s opinion was just what was needed. 

_“I’m in the car park,”_ Owen spoke up.  _“I’m gonna get to work, but it would be awesome if someone would have some coffee ready.  It’s also lunch time, isn’t it?”_

“Don’t be so subtle, Owen,” Ianto grinned.  “Tell us what you want right out so we know what you’re talking about.”

The engine noises ceased, signalling Owen parking.  _“Get me some damned coffee and a sandwich so I can keep doing all the bloody work around here.”_ The sound of the connection ending put that particular side of the meeting to an end.

“Sometimes I wonder who’s exactly in charge around here,” Jack groused. 

Ianto patted him on the arm.  “We all know it’s Toshiko.”

“Please,” she shook her head as she stood. 

“All right, everyone,” the captain said, also standing.  “For right now, we’re going to be working on what’s causing the kids to chant together.  Owen will be working on the tests; Toshiko, you keep up with what you’re doing.  Ianto, since Toshiko is handling the hack into MI5, I want you to help out with running the readings we got up on the Plass.”

Ianto nodded in agreement.

“Rhys, I want you to surf the internet and pull everything you can about the chanting.  Doesn’t matter where you find it, I want a compilation of whatever you find, anything could be useful.  And Deborah,” he looked up at the ceiling, “can you please call out for lunch?  Apparently Owen is starving to death.” 

Although she couldn’t answer, Ianto knew that Deborah had heard and would be doing what Jack asked.  “I’ll do some coffee,” the dragon said, “I have the feeling it’s going to be a long day.”

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**_15 September 2009_ **

 

Ianto had been correct, Jack mused.  It had, indeed, been a long day.

Owen had sequestered himself in the autopsy bay, only coming out to eat and to shout for more coffee.  Jack knew he was working on the samples he’d gotten from Steven, and he couldn’t help but worry about what his medic might find.  Yet, at the same time, once they knew what was behind the control of the children it would give them something to fight against.

Toshiko spent all of the day in front of her computers, frowning for the most part.  She had the most to do: hacking into the Home Office and Thames House, as well as running analyses on the readings Ianto had taken when the children had chanted the last time.  Ianto was right beside her, doing whatever he could to take some of the burden from her, and providing coffee whenever appropriate. 

The readings from the Plass ended up giving them nothing.  Ianto had been frustrated, but Jack had assured his mate that it was fine, that perhaps the PDF he’d used hadn’t been sensitive enough.  Toshiko hadn’t said anything, but Jack had known she’d wanted to, since Jack was disparaging her equipment, but the technician let it slide, obviously recognising Jack’s words as an attempt to comfort Ianto.

Jack himself had had no luck whatsoever in his attempt to reach someone in the government who might have information that Torchwood desperately needed.  He was thwarted at every turn.  He’d even tried to get a hold of Her Majesty, but he was even blocked in that direction.  It was all he could do not to throw his phone across his office out of frustration.

“Hey, Jack.”

He turned toward Rhys, who was motioning him over to his computer.  Jack made his way over.  “You find anything?”

Rhys blew out a breath.  “Well, I’ve been all over the internet, and the first thing I’ve seen was that every chanting child has been speaking English.  Even those in other countries, who apparently didn’t know English, were chanting in it.”

Jack frowned.  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

“Whatever’s going on, it has to do with an English-speaking country,” Jack mused.  “Add that to the time this morning that the children originally froze…”

“Means Great Britain,” Rhys completed.  “There’s no other explanation.”

Jack sighed.  Of course this would explain why everyone in the government or local UNIT was trying to duck him.  “Good work,” he said, clapping the Welshman on the shoulder.

“That’s not all, though.”  Rhys turned back to the computer, tapping a couple of keys then looking back up at Jack.  “It’s only affected children…except for this guy.”  He pointed toward his monitor.

On the screen was a video of a man, perhaps in his fifties or sixties, who was also chanting.  A nurse was trying to get him to calm down, which had to mean he was in some sort of home or assisted living community.  “What have you been able to find out about him?”

“According to this, his name is Timothy White.   He’s a patient at the psychiatric ward at the Duke of York Hospital, East Grinstead.”

This put a new spin on the situation.  “How did you find this?”

Rhys shrugged.  “The staff emailed it to the police, but they’ve been so busy with the children that no one’s even looked at it yet.”

“East Grinstead…that’s what?  Three hours?” 

Rhys would know, from his previous employment at Harwood’s.  “More like two.”

Jack gave him his best smile.  “How do you feel about a field trip?”

Rhys just rolled his eyes.  “Should I ask Ianto for some of the local currency?”

“Might not be a bad idea.  And check with Owen to see if you’re up on your injections.”

Rhys snorted, shaking his head.  “I’m on my way to the wilds of East Grinstead.  If I don’t make it back, it’s been fun!”

Jack laughed as his friend got up and, grabbing his jacket, started out.  “Oh, Rhys?”

His teammate turned back.

“If this guy turns out to be a lead, call in and we’ll spring him from the hospital and you can get him back here, pronto.  If not…then we’ll just leave him be.  But if he’s chanting along with the kids…”

“Gotcha, Jack.  I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything.”

Rhys left, and Jack sagged down into the abandoned chair, watching as Timothy White was paused in mid-chant, his eyes completely blank, and he shivered.

 

**********

****

**_Interlude – Agent Johnson_ **

****

She was one of the best at what she did, which was the reason she was currently sitting in the back of an unmarked van just off Cardiff’s Roald Dahl Plass, watching as other agents readied their equipment. 

“I want full surveillance,” Johnson ordered.  “Get me eyes and ears into the Torchwood Hub.”

No one said anything; they continued to work.

“I’m going to do some reconnaissance,” she went on, beginning to remove any and all weapons from her uniform and then quickly disguising herself with jeans, button-down, and a light jacket.  “By the time I get back, I want everything set up and recording.”

Once again no one answered her order, but Johnson didn’t much care.  Her people were hand-picked, and would do what she wanted quickly and efficiently.  She had no doubt of that; after all, they knew the consequences of failure.

Johnson climbed out of the van, feeling a bit strange in the casual clothes when she was on duty.  It wouldn’t be the first time she’d done undercover work, and yet it still was weird not being in uniform.  She headed down the block and into the Plass itself, her mind already registering lines of sight and vulnerable areas to attack, knowing that anything could happen before their targets were taken out.

They’d received the Blank Page only half an hour ago.  Johnson had already despatched teams to the locations of the other three targets, but Jack Harkness was hers.  From everything they knew about him and his version of Torchwood, it would take more than just a simple bomb to destroy their Hub and their team. 

To be honest, Johnson was a bit impressed by Harkness and his team.  Of course she knew what they did, and to have such a small team be so affective was quite an achievement.  However, that wasn’t about to alter her orders.  If Torchwood was to be disposed of, then she and her own team would be the ones to do it.

It didn’t help her mood that her mole had been compromised.  She’d found out just that morning that Patanjali had somehow run afoul of Torchwood already, and they’d wiped several hours of his memory.  She’d been holding him in reserve, hoping to be able to slip him into the team, but nothing had presented itself as yet.  Yes, she knew they already had a doctor, and had some sort of relationship with UNIT’s Medical Officer, Dr Martha Jones-Milligan, but such small teams would have had need of medical help at some point that could not be handled with their own resources.  Johnson had counted on that occurring, and then slipping Patanjali into their dynamic.  He could have then reported back any and all information he would become privy to.

Now it wouldn’t happen.  Harkness and Jones had been at the hospital that morning, and while Johnson couldn’t find out exactly what had happened, Patanjali had let himself be mind-wiped.  His usefulness was at an end, and after this operation she would recall him. 

The Plass wasn’t exactly deserted, but Johnson realised that it had to be much quieter than usual.  That made sense, what with the children chanting.  She knew that all of the schools across Great Britain were closed, and would most likely remain so until things settled down, or until the government came up with a viable cover story to explain things. 

Johnson hadn’t been read into it, but then she really didn’t need to know at the moment.  She was certain she would be if it would become her concern.

She strode across the Plass and onto Mermaid Quay, her boots pounding onto the wood of the quay.  Cardiff Bay was quite beautiful, if she was into this sort of aesthetic.  Johnson had better things to do than to admire the view.

The Tourist Information Office was just ahead.  It looked a bit ramshackle, and Johnson wondered why it wasn’t kept up, the better to fit into Torchwood’s cover story. 

From what they knew, Jones would be right behind that door.  According to what she’d been told, Ianto Jones was Torchwood’s Second in Command, but the photo she’d been given had shown a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties.  If this was any other team, Johnson would have considered him way too young for such a position, but Torchwood only hired the best of the best.  Age would have nothing to do with ability.

Johnson opened the door, making note of the security pad on the side of the jamb.  She put on her best smile, even as her eyes were looking for weak points in the office beyond.  So it was understandable that it didn’t register for about a second that Jones wasn’t the one behind the counter with its tatty brochures and tourist-trap souvenirs.

It was a young woman, with blonde hair pulled back into a fashionable style and dimples that flashed as she returned Johnson’s smile.  The woman – girl, more like – resembled nothing more than a university student, even in the nice blue suit and white blouse she was wearing, a badge on the lapel reading ‘Deborah’.  A single ear bud from what had to have been an MP3 player was in her right ear, and she removed it as Johnson moved closer to the counter.

“Good afternoon,” the girl greeted her warmly.  “Welcome to Mermaid Quay!  How can I help you today?”

This was a surprise.  Johnson was going to have to have a word with whoever got them their information on Torchwood because they’d obviously fallen down on the job.  “Well, actually, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the area and I was hoping I could get some literature on any local events going on.”

The girl’s smile faded.  “I’m sorry, but unfortunately many of the tours have been cancelled because of what happened this morning.  I’m afraid you didn’t pick a very good time to take vacation.”

Johnson let some of her personal frustration show.  She’d been hoping to scope out Jones, to take his measure, but had found this…child…instead.  “Yeah, I’m beginning to get that idea.”

“It’s just horrible,” Deborah went on.  “I was out on the Plass this morning when the children began chanting.  It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.  Those poor things, and no one knows what’s causing it or if it’s going to happen again…” She took a deep breath.  “I’m sorry.  You didn’t come in to hear me go on about it.  There are still a couple of things going on, and I’ll be happy to get you information on those…”

“Thanks,” Johnson answered as the girl bustled about the counter, pulling a couple of brochures and an illustrated map out.  She felt like fishing for a little information was in order at this point.  “Excuse me, but the last time I was in here there was a man running things.  Young, dark hair, blue eyes?”

Deborah frowned slightly.  “Well, it must have been before me, and I’ve been here for a little over a year.  I didn’t actually meet the person I replaced, but maybe that was him?” Then she chuckled.  “I know when I first started working here I’d get people coming in to talk to whoever had been here last.  He must have been really popular with the locals.”

That must have been Jones.  Johnson was getting angry that their intelligence was so much out of date.  Hadn’t anyone thought to check before sending her and her team in? 

Was Torchwood even still there?

She stayed and listened to Deborah explain several local events and tours, although it was difficult to do so.  Johnson wanted to personally punch the idiot who hadn’t checked their facts. 

Johnson thanked the girl for her help, and then left the Tourist Office, clutching the information she’d been given in her guise as a tourist.  Jones hadn’t been running the place in over a year?  This sort of fuck-up wasn’t acceptable.

She pulled her mobile out, dialling her superior as she walked.  As soon as the phone was answered, she snapped, “I thought the information we had on Torchwood was up-to-date?”

_“It is,”_ the response came, _“we checked this morning.”_

“Then whoever checked it is an imbecile.  I was just at the Tourist Information Centre and Jones doesn’t run it anymore.”

_“Are you sure?”_

She rolled her eyes, even knowing he wouldn’t see it.  “Unless Jones has morphed into a female blonde university student named Deborah.”

There was silence on the other end.  She was most of the way back to the van when he finally spoke again.  _“We’ll check into it and get back to you.”_

“Yes Sir.”  It was all she could do not to snark back at him. 

Climbing back into the van, she glared at her subordinates.  “You better have good news for me, or I’m going to start shooting.”

That caused a round of cautious looks around the equipment.  “We can’t get eyes and ears into the Hub,” one brave soul reported.  “Their security is way too good.  I’m working on bypassing it but I’m not having any luck.”

“But we have surveillance on every mobile in the place,” a second agent piped up.  “They make any calls, we’ll know about it.”

It was less than what Johnson had expected from her hand-picked team, but this was Torchwood they were trying to hack into.  “Fine,” she snapped, “but I want results, and I want them soon.”

She didn’t have to tell them what would happen if they didn’t get her what she wanted.

 

**********

 

“I’ve got nothing,” Toshiko said, her frustration evident. 

Jack put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.  It didn’t work judging from how tense she was under his touch.  “You said it would take a while,” he murmured.

“I know I did, but this…MI5 and Thames House are on high alert, which ratcheted up their security.  I’ve hit so many firewalls I feel like I have an actual dent in my forehead!”

“Don’t feel bad, Tosh,” Owen said, coming up to stand beside Jack.  Ianto joined them from where he’d been working on Rhys’ computer, following the stories on the internet.   “I’ve run tests three times now and I got nothing.”  It was obvious his frustration was just as bad as Toshiko’s own.  “Either it’s not in the blood or whatever the fuck it is goes benign after the chanting stops.”

“Nothing in the scans, either?” Ianto asked.

“Not a thing, Dragon Boy.  It’s seriously pissing me off.”

Jack could relate.  They were all hitting dead ends and it was making him angry.  Whatever was causing this was affecting his family, and no one messed with his family. 

The cog door alarm went off, and it said something about all of their being distracted that every one of them jumped.  Jack looked up to see Deborah coming through, her expression strained.

“I think we just had a visitor,” she reported before Jack could even ask, “and by that I mean an unfriendly visitor.”

Toshiko was back at her keyboard, bringing up the CCTV of the Tourist Office.   As she rewound it back, Jack asked, “What clued you in?”

Deborah crossed her arms as she watched the video wind back.  “I wasn’t at first, but there was something about her…I could swear she was in the military, but that didn’t mean anything really.  I talk to military types all the time.  But it was when she asked about Ianto…”

The dragon’s eyebrow went up.  “She asked about me?”

“Yes.  And she seemed surprised that you weren’t there.”

“Got it,” Toshiko said.  She began the playback.

Jack watched as the woman came into the office.  Yes, he could see where Deborah had gotten the impression of a military bearing; the woman’s spine was so straight it was like she had a broomstick rammed up her backside.  She was dressed in civilian clothes, but there was something awkward about it, like she wasn’t used to it.

And then the woman described Ianto. 

Everyone in the area knew that Deborah had replaced Ianto in the office over a year ago, and she’d managed to make her own reputation for being polite and helpful to any of the locals who came by.  The story they’d given out was that Ianto had been promoted; however, since everyone around the Plass pretty much knew that the Tourist Office was a front for Torchwood that had been accepted readily.  And, since Ianto made appearances around the area they all knew that ‘nice Mr Jones’ was still around, and many had congratulated him on his promotion.

“Toshiko,” he asked, “did you ever update Ianto’s status in the information you enjoy leaking to would-be hackers?”

“No, I haven’t,” she answered, pausing the screen on a decent shot of the mysterious woman’s face.

“And I’m pretty sure I’d recall meeting her,” Ianto put in.  “She wouldn’t be hard to forget, especially if she is with MI5.”

Jack chewed his nail in thought.  “So, we possibly have MI5 sniffing around on a day when every child in the world decided it would be a really good idea to chant in unison.  Yeah, not a coincidence.”

“I’ll keep trying to get into their systems,” Toshiko said, sounding almost defiant.

“I also want the Hub on partial lockdown,” Jack ordered.  “No one in without the proper codes.  Deborah,” he turned to their General Support, “I don’t feel safe with you going home tonight, not now that they’ve gotten a good look at you.”

She nodded.  “I can stay here, Jack.  It’s fine.”

Ianto smiled.  “I can get rooms ready for Owen and Tosh, as well.  I don’t think any of us should go home tonight.”

“Call Rhys as well, and let him know not to come back,” Jack replied.  “Tell him to find a hotel room and lie low for a bit.  We’ll call when it’s safe to come in.”

“I will.”

“Toshiko,” Jack turned back to her, “you didn’t happen to hide the fact that Patrick and Rhys work for us, did you?”

“You mean from the aforementioned hackers that have done their best to piss me off?” Toshiko smiled sharply.  “They have no clue about Rhys and Patrick, and didn’t about Deborah until just a while ago.”

“That is excellent.  I’m gonna call Patrick and tell him to hang out at Alice’s for the time being.”  Jack smirked.  “Maybe he’ll finally get around to asking her out on a date if they’re stuck together.”

Ianto snorted.  “I wait to see the day.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

****

**_16 September 2009_ **

**_Day Two_ **

****

The sound of a phone playing ‘Moonlight Serenade’ awoke Jack from a sound sleep.

He was up and away from the dragon’s warm side in a second, grabbing the phone out of his trouser pocket.  Jack glanced at his watch – 5:32am – as he answered the mobile.  “Harkness.”

_“Jack, it’s Rhys.”_

He sounded out of breath, and that was enough to sweep the rest of the cobwebs away from his brain.  “What is it?”

The last Jack had heard from Rhys was a report saying that he didn’t think Timothy White was much of a lead, the man seeming completely out of it and only spouting things that didn’t make any sense.  Then he’d joked about getting a swanky hotel on Torchwood’s dosh, and that had been it.

_“Some blokes with guns just broke into my motel room,”_ Rhys answered. 

Jack’s heart lurched.  “Are you all right?”

_“Yeah, I’m fine.  Luckily I was in the bathroom when they arrived, and the window was large enough for me to climb out.  I was down the street before they even knew I was gone.”_

Jack let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding.  “Good, keep moving while we talk.”

Ianto had changed into his human form and had joined Jack.  “What is it?” he enquired.

“Someone tried to attack Rhys in his motel room,” Jack murmured.   “You say they had guns?  Did they identify themselves?”

_“No,”_ Rhys answered.  _“They just busted in, shouted my name and told me to raise my hands and surrender.”_

“Wait…they knew who you were?” That was troubling…

_“Unless they happen to know another Rhys Williams.”_

Something about this wasn’t right.  Toshiko had said that Rhys wasn’t in any of the information she let leak to MI5, and yet someone with trained soldiers had obviously sent them to take Rhys while he was supposed to have been sleeping.  This was too much of a coincidence to be anything but that.

How did they know about Rhys?

And then it hit him.

“Rhys,” he ordered, “I want you to destroy your phone.  In fact, take out the simcard and crush it, and then destroy the phone.  Make it so no one can get anything from it if it’s found.”

_“But Jack –“_

“Secondary protocol, Rhys.”

There was a pause, and then, _“Understood.”_

The phone disconnected, sounding very final.

“Jack?” Ianto asked, worry lacing his words.

He gripped the phone so tightly it felt as if the plastic was cutting into his skin.  “Whoever attacked Rhys in his motel room knew who he was.”

Ianto’s eyes widened.  “You mean –“

Jack knew his mate understood.  He said nothing. Instead he quickly got dressed and headed out of their hoard room, striding toward the upper levels of the Hub. 

This was getting out of hand.  Someone was obviously out for Torchwood, and this was the first strike. What was worse, Jack had no idea why.

“Get Owen, Deborah, and Toshiko,” he told Ianto, himself heading over to start powering up the workstations.  They’d all gone to bed late; Jack and Ianto had had to practically force Toshiko to bed, so caught up in her attempts of hacking she’d been unwilling to leave her computer.  It had taken the combined efforts of the three men and Deborah to finally get her to rest for a bit, and that was after she’d been able to call Kathy and let her know she wouldn’t be home.  Not that that apparently bothered Kathy; with parents all over Cardiff in an uproar the police were on full alert.

In the few minutes the rest of the team on base had gathered, Jack had everything up and running once more, the lights of the Hub bright and making them all blink.

“What is it?” Toshiko asked, running her hands through her hair in an attempt to brush out the severe case of bed-head she had.

“Yeah,” Owen groused, “what the fuck is going on?”

“I just got a call from Rhys,” Jack answered, his anger growing.  “He was attacked in his motel room by men with guns, who knew his name and tried to take him into custody.” 

As they were adjusting to that piece of information, Jack looked at Toshiko.  “How simple would it be to have had someone track our mobile signals?”

Toshiko shrugged.  “Our system is pretty secured, but Jack…these are still mobile signals.  They travel through the airwaves and through towers like any radio signal, plus there are things such as GPS installed in most phones these days.  They can both be intercepted and followed back to whoever was called if someone had the right equipment to do so, and calls can be traced through whichever tower they might have gone through and that would give a general area to search.” 

“You’re saying Rhys was tracked through his phone?” Deborah asked, shocked. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Jack answered.  “I told him to destroy the phone and enact secondary protocol.  Hopefully he’ll be on his way to Ddraig Llyn by now.”

They’d come up with a secondary protocol after the events of the Year of the Toclafane, making Ddraig Llyn their fall-back position in case of any trouble threatening the team and/or the Hub.  After Toshiko and Kathy’s wedding their technician had spent several weeks preparing a place for them to make into a second Hub, ready if they should ever need it. 

Jack was very worried about Rhys.  He felt guilty about suggesting he stay away from Cardiff, because at least they could have protected each other then…

“You can’t blame yourself,” Ianto said, resting his hand on Jack’s arm.  “We had no idea that they’d be tracking our calls.  Besides, Rhys can take care of himself…as you well know.”

Jack shook his head, smiling.  “You always know what to say, and of course you’re right…Rhys is resourceful, he’ll be fine.”  Still, Jack knew that there would be no way he wouldn’t worry until he knew that his teammate was safe.   “Okay,” he went back to Toshiko, “what about landlines?”

“The Hub’s landlines are secured and encrypted,” she answered.  “We’ve just gotten out of the habit of using them since we all carry mobiles with us.  The only reason you use them now is when you have to call someone in the government or the Queen, because that’s standard protocol.”

Jack cursed.  “No more.  I’m putting into place new protocols for calling out from the Hub.  Unless our mobile network is completely secure, we use landlines within the Hub itself.  We can’t risk this happening again.”

“Jack,” Ianto said, and the dragon’s human face had gone pale, “Rhys isn’t the only one we’ve called on our mobiles today –“

If Jack had been afraid for Rhys that quadrupled when he thought of the one person he’d phoned that day…

 

**********

 

Alice couldn’t sleep.

She tossed and turned, her mind going over the day and threatening to drive her to the bottle of vodka she kept in the freezer for just such days.  She couldn’t escape the fear that had gripped her ever since her dad had called her and had asked her about Steven and if he was all right.  And then the chanting had started, and Alice’s whole world had disintegrated into a single thought: something was taking her son away from her.

It had been good that Owen and Patrick had been there when Steven had begun chanting, right there in her lounge.  She really would have freaked out otherwise, and that wouldn’t have done anyone any good.  So, she’d sat there while Owen had taken scans and blood and tried to figure out what was doing this to her only son. 

Owen was, after all, about the only doctor she would ever completely trust with Steven.

Alice didn’t want to admit how much better she’d felt when Patrick had decided to stay.  There was something about the American that made her feel safe…and it wasn’t because he carried more hidden weapons than cash on him at any given time.  Alice frankly hated guns of any kind, although she did know how to use them.  Her mother had seen to that, and she even had a personal weapon in the bedside table.  She sometimes felt like a hypocrite over it, but she also knew just how dangerous things could be, and that was even without a megalomaniac creating a time paradox and threatening to destroy the universe.

However, she quite liked Patrick, and could put up with a little from him over being prepared.

There was a sudden noise downstairs, and Alice sat up, her heart suddenly in her throat.  She recognised the sound as Patrick’s mobile, and the only person who would be calling this early in the morning would be either her dad or Ianto.

Alice threw the covers off and got out of bed.  She didn’t turn on the light, but made her way to the closet in the dim glow from the streetlight outside, finding the duffle bag by feel.  She was pulling clothes out of the closet when Patrick appeared in the doorway, already completely dressed.  “Jack’s called a secondary protocol,” he murmured.  “You need to leave any electronic equipment behind, especially your cell phone.  Can you get yourself and Steven ready in ten minutes?”

“Yes,” she answered, equally quiet.  She was surprised that Patrick couldn’t hear the frantic pounding of her heart as she threw things into her bag, but doing as directed and not tucking anything electronic away.  Alice wondered what that was all about, but before she could ask Patrick had disappeared back downstairs.

Of course Alice knew what a secondary protocol was, and a part of her was glad to be leaving for one of the places she felt completely safe.  Still, it must have been horrifically dangerous for her dad to tell them to leave.

She wondered if Patrick knew any more.

Alice was in Steven’s room before she’d even realised she’d gotten dressed, and was shaking her son awake.  “C’mon, sweetheart,” she urged, “we need to leave.”

“But, Mum…” Steven whined as he came fully awake.

“Get dressed and I’ll pack some things for you, okay?”

Steven got out of bed, doing as she’d asked.  “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but your granddad needs us to go somewhere safe.  And don’t take your mobile or anything electronic.”

“Okay,” Steven answered.  He pulled on jeans and a long-sleeved shirt as Alice dug around in the closet, hoping to find at least some clean clothes in there.  She cursed to herself for not doing the laundry as she filled another bag for him, and Steven was pulling on his trainers as she finished up. 

As they were heading toward the landing, Alice darted back into her room in order to grab her gun.  She might not like the thing, but she knew she could very well need it.

Slipping the gun into her jacket pocket, Alice rejoined Steven in the hallway.  Together they made their way downstairs, to have Patrick meet them on the landing.  “An unmarked Hummer just pulled up outside,” he whispered.  “Let’s get to your car.”

Alice nodded, and led the way through the kitchen and into the garage where her car was waiting.  She searched for her keys…and they weren’t in the handbag she’d picked up from the kitchen counter.

Patrick’s hand on her shoulder kept her from totally panicking.  He slipped something into her hand – her keys, and she wanted to ask him where he’d gotten them but the sound of the front door crashing open kept her mouth shut.

They ran to the car.  Alice pulled open the rear door to let Steven crawl in, and then tossed their bags in after him.  Then she was in the driver’s seat, key in the ignition as Patrick pulled the passenger side door closed behind him, a gun in his free hand.

Then the electricity went out, cutting out even the small wall light Alice kept in the garage in case of emergencies.

Which meant they couldn’t open the garage door.

Patrick muttered a curse, and started to get out of the car in order to open the door manually.  It was a heavy door, Alice knew, and there would be no way he would find the manual lever in the pitch dark that had blanketed the garage when the power had been cut.  She put a hand on his arm to stop him, thumbing on the tiny overhead lamp set in the ceiling of the car. 

He looked at her, confused.  Alice didn’t say anything; instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself and allowing her to access the power that the Air Dragon had left her after the Earth had gotten stolen.

She could feel the air around them; sense the movements of the men who’d broken into her house as they passed through the atmosphere around them.  There was a slight breeze outside, and it took no time at all to whip it up into a frenzy.

The sudden strong gusts of wind blew both the single window and the back door open, and Alice focussed it at the closed overhead door.  She could tell the intruders now knew where they were, and a sharp spike of panic intensified the mini-storm building within the confines of the garage, knocking loose items off shelves and rocking the car slightly. 

With a loud groan the overhead door began to bend.

Alice raised her hand toward the now-damaged door, her heartbeat ramping up as the first of the armed intruders entered the garage.  The first one was tossed back into the one behind him, and that gave Alice just enough time to finally blow the garage door off of its tracks and out into the front yard.

She turned the ignition key, gunned the motor, and was out of the garage before anyone could react.  The wind she’d called acted as a tailwind and her car went sailing forward.  Alice wasn’t sure the tires even touched the driveway as they barrelled along, past the large black Hummer and into the quiet residential street.

“Way to go, Mum!” Steven shouted. 

Patrick’s whoop of excitement joined Steven’s cry, and Alice was gasping like she’d been holding her breath all that time.  The tires squealed as she took the corner a bit too quickly, but she couldn’t see the other vehicle in her rear-view mirror, so she was hoping they were still getting their acts together and were too far behind to actually catch them.

“Did you learn how to drive from your Dad?” Patrick teased.

“He learned from my mother,” Alice answered, grinning like a loon as she barrelled through a red light and took another corner far too closely.  Her heart was hammering in her chest like she’d just run a marathon, and she briefly wondered if this was how her Dad felt when he was in danger.

She managed to get them onto the A416.  There wasn’t much traffic as yet, and Alice slowed down just a little, to avoid being pulled over and getting a speeding ticket.  “Do you think we’ve lost them?” she asked, still slightly breathless.

“For now,” Patrick answered.  “But we’re gonna need to dump this car and get another one.”

For a second, Alice balked at the idea of leaving her car somewhere, and she said so.

“They were there for you, Alice,” Patrick pointed out gently.  “If they knew your name and address, you can bet they also know exactly what car you drive.  We can’t afford to get picked up by any sort of police.  Kathy might be able to protect us…if we made it to police headquarters.  But we won’t, not if those men get to us.  I think you understand that.”

She did.  Alice hadn’t wanted to get involved with Torchwood’s business, and she’d thanked her mother many times over for changing their names in order to protect them.  She had no doubt that this had something to do with her Dad and Tad, and not all that long ago she would have cursed them for it.

However, she’d seen what both of them went through in order to protect the world, and she could only respect them for it.  Plus she had a much better idea of just what Torchwood did and had gained a family along with that understanding. If this did have something to do with Torchwood – and she really had no doubt that it did – then they’d done their best to get her and Steven out of danger by calling Patrick and warning them as soon as they could.  They would do everything in their power to look after them and to keep them safe.

Alice understood things better, and could accept that they were in danger even if she didn’t have to like it.  Especially if it had something to do with her only son.

She also had Patrick with her, which was a relief.  She liked the gregarious American, maybe a bit too much.  The idea of even _thinking_ about asking him out on a date made Alice reconsider even more about Torchwood.  Yes, she didn’t like the idea that he seemed to have at least one gun on him at any time, even if she could wrap her head around the need to be prepared for anything.  There were things he did that she didn’t quite care for, like sometimes the way he treated her as if she was some sort of damsel in distress, even when they weren’t racing down a major road at nearly 6am with unknown people trying to find them. 

But, at the same time, Patrick was really good with Steven.  He respected Alice’s intelligence and her life choices and was _there_ , in this moment, and Alice knew there was only two other people she would completely trust to get them to safety.

“Alright,” she said.  “What do you suggest?”

She glanced over and caught sight of the smile on Patrick’s face.  “Head toward the airport and I’ll explain.”

And this was how, three hours later, they were in an old Volvo station wagon that they’d ‘appropriated’ from long-term parking at Cardiff International, after laying a trail that their pursuers would believe had them flying out for Berlin on the next available plane.

Alice was impressed, and said so.

Patrick actually blushed and explained that _Airport 1970_ was one of his granddad Canton’s favourite movies, and how they’d watched it together when it had been released to regular television.  He went on to say that Helen Hayes had been his hero, because of how she’d managed to stow away on planes  and how he’d done it himself at the tender age of fourteen because he’d wanted to see Disney World and his parents had said no.  He’d actually made it to Orlando, Florida, but had been stopped at the airport there and had been sent back home to Washington, DC immediately.  His parents had been furious but his grandfather had simply smiled.  Patrick had studied various ways to get into and out of planes and airports once he’d joined the FBI, in remembrance of that particular movie and the silent approval his grandfather had given him over the whole Orlando business.

It was in moments such as this that Alice really wanted to meet the mysterious Canton Everett Delaware III, because she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.

But then, Patrick’s grandfather had been one of the reasons he’d accepted a place in the FBI, and that had been the stepping stone into Torchwood.  She never would have met him otherwise.

That didn’t stop her from wanting to enroll the man in parenting classes, because there were just certain things a person didn’t encourage an impressionable child to attempt.

Still, they were safe for the time being, and heading toward Ddraig Llyn.  She could worry about Patrick’s particular upbringing another day.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**_16 September 2009_ **

 

No one else slept anymore that morning.

Jack kept pacing like a caged tiger, and Ianto couldn’t blame him.  They were all worried about their family, out there somewhere and on the run, and yet there wasn’t anything they could really do.  Ianto had offered to change into his dragon form and try to at least find Alice, Steven, and Patrick, but Jack had denied him, saying that knowing Patrick, he would have found them a different car from Alice’s, and how would Ianto even know what vehicle to check for?

Ianto admitted that he had a point.  Still, he hated just sitting there on his hands, doing nothing,

Toshiko had managed to get through to Kathy, who was really sleeping on the sofa in her office at police headquarters.  She’d used Jack’s office phone to do it, since it was still heavily encrypted and less likely to be hacked.  Kathy was fine, and would stay in the building until they knew more of what was going on, but Toshiko had told her that she might get visitors. 

Kathy could take care of herself, and if she couldn’t her coppers would come to her assistance.  Cardiff CID was the best place for her to be.

Jack had also called Estelle.  They had no idea just how long the surveillance on their mobiles had started, and none of them wanted to take the chance that their antagonists would also go after Estelle.  But she’d answered and said she was fine, and that nothing had tripped her wards.  Jack had exacted a promise to call if anything happened, but Ianto could tell his mate was also desperately worried about his former lover.

Since Kathy seemed safe, Toshiko had thrown herself into her hacking with a gusto that belied the fact that she must have only gotten about five hours’ sleep.  Jack ordered her to scrub Rhys’ and Alice’s histories clean, so no one could find out more personal information on them…and hopefully it wouldn’t be too late.

“What about Patrick and Deborah?” she asked as she got to work.

“Deborah is a valid employee of the Welsh Tourism Board,” Jack answered, “and I’m pretty certain they checked on her before we knew they were listening in on our phone conversations, so it wouldn’t do any good.  As for Patrick…” he smiled a predator’s smile, “his background is scary.  Let them worry about just what they pissed off with him.”

Toshiko had managed to get into some of UNIT’s system, and had forwarded as much medical information on the chanting children that she’d been able to find, and that kept Owen busy and cursing while Deborah found some things in the kitchen to prepare for breakfast.  Ianto kept himself busy by making coffee and then getting back online, to see if anything else they might be able to use turned up.

Barely two hours after they’d been awakened by Rhys’ phone call, Jack’s office phone rang.

Ianto was faster and managed to get there before his mate, earning him a frown from Jack.  He didn’t even bother to answer it as Torchwood; anyone calling that particular line knew damned well who they were reaching.

_“Ianto,”_ Kathy’s voice said, sounding strained, _“I wanted to let you know we received an alarm going off at your house twenty minutes ago.”_

Ianto drew in a sharp breath, anger narrowing his eyes.  Something must have communicated itself to Jack because his mate took a hesitant step backward.  “What happened?” he snapped, and then hoping that Kathy wouldn’t think he was angry at her.

Apparently she didn’t.  _“I sent a car over, and they reported that there was a group of black-clad men with automatic weapons tossing the place.  The two constables didn’t have a chance, and were kept from going inside themselves by being held at gunpoint.”_ She was just as angry as Ianto was.

“Are they all right?” Ianto asked, worried about the unarmed Bobbies facing armed troops.

_“Yeah, more indignant than scared.  But they reported the intruders removed several items from your house…mostly electronic equipment, especially any computer stuff.”_

The dragon sighed.  That sort of thing could always be replaced, and besides they’d have more than their fair share of trouble getting past the security measures Toshiko had put onto his laptop; that was, if it didn’t automatically wipe itself after two failed password attempts.  “At least your men weren’t hurt.”

_“They showed sense and didn’t try to intervene, even though the intruders didn’t identify themselves.  But, Ianto…one of my guys says he saw them also carrying out what looked like historical artefacts…I’m sorry, but those bastards could have gotten into your hoard.”_

Ianto growled, the sound coming up from somewhere deep in his chest.  A dragon’s hoard was personal and no one should ever dare to steal from one.  To do so was to risk the dragon’s wrath.

Then he willed his anger back down.  “As long as no one was hurt.  I can replace anything they happened to take.”

There was a silent moment, and then Kathy spoke once more, _“And this is why you’re like my family, Jones…you care more about my men than what was stolen from you.”_

“Yeah, well…life is always more important than objects.  And speaking of that…be careful, Kathy.  We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

_“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.  I’ll stay right here in the office until we get these bastards caught.  Can I ask…you think this also has something to do with the kids?”_

“Yes, we believe so.  We’re pretty certain someone doesn’t want us investigating, and they’re trying to take Torchwood out of the picture.”

_“Whoever they are, they’re damned stupid if you ask me.  If you have something weird, you go to the people who_ know _weird.  You don’t cut them out of the loop.”_

“That would make sense.  Well, I should go; Jack’s bouncing with curiosity to know what this call was about.”  Ianto would have laughed if he still wasn’t so pissed off.

_“Alright.  I’m gonna send patrols over to ours and to Owen’s, Rhys’, and Delaware’s places just in case.  I’ll call if they were tossed as well.  I’ll also see about getting your place boarded up.  Don’t want anything else to go missing.”_

“Sounds good.  As I said…be careful.”

_“I’m surrounded by wannabe knights in shining armour,”_ she scoffed.  _“I’ll be fine.”_

Ianto couldn’t help but laugh at that.  Ever since the massacre at the CID that Jack’s brother had arranged, everyone in the rank and file at the CID had become far more protective of their newest DCI than Kathy felt was completely necessary.  “You must be their Queen, then.  Should I start calling you ‘Your Majesty’?”

_“Screw you, Jones,”_ she laughed.  _“Go and get these bastards, okay?  And if you need help, you better damn call me, got it?”_

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he couldn’t help but say. 

That earned a loud, unladylike sound and a hang-up.  Ianto put the receiver down, his good mood sliding away like quicksilver.  He rested his head in his hands. 

“What’s going on?” Jack asked.

Ianto lifted his head, explaining to his mate what Kathy had told him.  Jack’s face closed down little by little, and the dragon could tell he was angrier than Ianto had ever seen him, culminating with the flash of fury in Jack’s eyes when Ianto mentioned them stealing the small hoard he’d kept in their house’s basement.

“They can’t get away with this,” Jack growled.  “I don’t know why they’re out to get us, but this needs to end.  Something is going on, and they’re shutting us out when they could be coming to us and asking for our help!”  He slammed his fist into the wall, and Ianto winced at the sound of flesh hitting brick.

Jack simply shook his hand out, hissing at the pain.  Ianto moved toward him, taking his injured hand in his and stroking it gently.  “There’s no reason to go around hurting yourself,” he murmured.  Under his fingers the skin from the bloodied knuckles knit itself together. 

“Yeah, sorry,” his mate muttered.  “It’s just that…”

“I know, believe me.  We’ll get to the bottom of this, don’t worry.  But we need to keep our wits about us.  Which I know is hard, because I want to find these bastards as much as you do.”  Ianto knew there was one thing he could do, but he wasn’t certain if Jack would agree.  “I think I should go and talk to the Fae directly.”

Jack gaped at him.  “If I thought that would actually help in this situation –“

“They obviously want us to do something about the children,” Ianto pointed out.  “At this moment, they know more than we do.  It’s about time they shared that knowledge with us.  And, on the way, I can check on Estelle and see how she’s doing.”

He could tell that was what tipped Jack into favouring his plan.  They were both concerned about Estelle; yes she was a powerful witch, but Ianto knew that having magic didn’t mean she could stand up to armour-piercing bullets. 

He had yet to know if the dragon could, but he wasn’t about to test just how strong his scales were.

“I’d feel a lot better if she was somewhere else,” Jack admitted.

“I know, Jack.  But they haven’t come after her yet, and she can defend herself.  I’ll stop by and see how she feels about it.”

Jack nodded.  “Alright. That sounds fine.”  He was still tense though, and Ianto knew there were far too many things contributing to that anxiety to name.

“Jack…Ianto,” Toshiko called out from her workstation.

They glanced at one another and headed out into the main Hub.  “What’s up?” Jack asked.

Toshiko looked tired; she had dark circles under her eyes and a pinched look that tipped Ianto off to her headache.  “I think UNIT might know what’s going on.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Not…entirely,” she admitted.  “But I managed to get inside Colonel Oduya’s calendar, and as of yesterday morning at 8:46am he cleared everything he had listed on his calendar for the day.  Later on, he cleared it again…this time for the next several days.  Everything has been completely blanked out.”

“That’s suspicious,” Ianto admitted.  “The children first froze yesterday around 8:40am.”

“And Oduya has been ducking me,” Jack added.  “Damn, I wish Mace was back on duty.  He’d cooperate with us.”

“Jack,” Toshiko said, “there are others out there who will be investigating this as well.  Maybe we should contact them and see what they know?”

Jack grinned.  “You are an angel, Toshiko Sato.  That is an excellent idea…if we can’t trust UNIT and our own government, then we should make an end run around them!”

Ianto chuckled.  “Was that an American football analogy?”

“It…might have been,” he answered, chagrined.

“See…Patrick _is_ rubbing off on him!” Toshiko crowed.  “Soon he’ll be American in mind as well as accent.”

“It’s a Boeshane accent,” Jack argued.  “I can’t help it if it just happens to sound American.”

“We know,” Ianto teased.  “Look, why don’t you make some calls and see what you can come up with.  Toshiko, keep on hacking; I’m sure you’ll get somewhere with it.  And I’m going to see Estelle…and have a little chat with the Fae.”

Toshiko didn’t look happy.  “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“They know something that we need to know,” Ianto explained.

“No, I meant leaving the Hub.  Surely they’ll know what car you drive, and being out alone would make you a target.”

Ianto smirked.  “I don’t intend on driving.”

 

**********

 

Cardiff looked wonderful from the air.

The dragon flew high, wanting to make certain that no one happened to see him from the ground, and it gave him a distinctly different view from the one he got when in his human form.  The city was spread out beneath him in all its glory, projecting peace instead of strife; calm instead of chaos.  It was beautiful and oh, so deceptive.

The sun was just above the horizon by the time the dragon landed in Estelle’s back garden, the wind from the downdraft of his wings flattening the fall foliage as his legs touched down, digging small furrows into the grass with his talons.

Estelle came out to meet him, and waited until he’d changed form to hug him.  When she pulled away, she was looking at him appraisingly.  “You do know I can look after myself,” she said, a tiny smile curling up one side of her mouth.

“We know,” he answered, “but we still can’t help but worry.”

Moses intertwined between his feet as if the cat wanted to trip him up, Ianto followed Estelle into the house.  Tea was set up already in the kitchen, as she’d been expecting his arrival.

“Well, not necessarily you,” she admitted, a twinkle in her eye as she served the tea, “but I knew either you or Jack would be out to check on me.”

He accepted the mug from her, inhaling the sweet scent of the fruit tea Estelle favoured.  “Someone did try to grab Rhys, and then Alice, Steven, and Patrick…you can see why we were worried.”

“Yes, I can,” she agreed.  “But wasn’t that because you’d called them on their mobiles?  I haven’t talked to either you or Jack since I saw Jasmine Pierce.”

“We saw her as well, during the last round of chanting.  I’m certain the Fae know a lot more than they’re telling.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me.  They have a vested interest in their Chosen Ones, and wouldn’t want them interfered with.”

“And despite that they want us to do all the work.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t lazy.”

Ianto chuckled.  “True.  But I think it’s time I tried to talk to them myself.”

“Do you honestly think that’s going to work?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, taking a sip, “but I have to try.  This is getting far too out of hand.”  He explained to her about Kathy’s phone call, about how what sounded like the same people who had tried to kidnap the others had apparently broken into his house.  Estelle grimaced when he told her about his stolen hoard, and she reached out and took his hand in sympathy.

“Yes,” she said, “you do have to try.  I really don’t think you’ll get anywhere, though.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” he sighed.  “But we have to get some answers, and we’re not getting them anywhere else.”

“Be careful,” Estelle cautioned.  “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“They won’t hurt me, I don’t think.  The dragons have their own Pacts with the Fae that they recognise and adhere to.”

“Ianto, I think you know as well as I do, they don’t have to break a Pact in order to hurt you.”

Estelle had a point.  He remembered the last time they’d dealt with the Fae, and how they’d tried to get around the Naming he’d done by frightening Estelle and Gwen, and they hadn’t had to touch them at all.  If either of them had broken the Naming…well, Ianto would not have been there, enjoying tea with Estelle.

“I want you to promise me something,” he said, squeezing her hand gently.

“You know I would do anything for you, Ianto,” she answered kindly.

“At the first sign of trouble, you get away from here.  All right?”  They might not know about Estelle now, but there was no telling what might happen later.

“I will.  I do know about your secondary protocol.”

“Good.  Now, let’s finish our tea, and then I should beard the Fae in their lair.”

 

**********

 

Roundstone Wood hadn’t changed at all since the last time Ianto had come there, to Name his friends and place them under his protection.

He would add to that list today.

His human form began the trek back into the wood, toward the cairn where the Fae gathered.  The trees whispered ancient stories as he walked, sighing in his ears as his eyes tracked the changes in the wood the deeper he went.

Sand and ocean; fire and ice; all the ages of the world spun about him, and Ianto triggered his true form as he came up onto the ancient stone that marked the border of the Lost Lands.  He could feel the snap and crackle of power against his scales, and it was different from how he sensed the Cardiff Rift.  The Rift was Time and Space and connected all within its Vortex; the power that saturated Roundstone Wood was Magic and Age and the tingle of what was long gone, yet still half-remembered in dreams and fairy tales. 

The Fae were around him, in the trees and half in this world and half in the other, the soft susurrus of wings echoing around him and humming in his ears.  One darted down to land on the stone in the centre of the glade, dragonfly wings fluttering as the large green creature steadied itself on top of the stone, bathed in the energy of Creation itself.

_“What do you here, ancient one?”_ the leader of the Fae hissed, baring its knife-sharp teeth.

“You know why I’m here,” the dragon countered, mantling his wings in reply.

_“Why are you here?”_ the Fae repeated.

“Because you sent Jasmine Pierce to watch for a Breaking.  We now know it’s because of the children, but we cannot determine what’s going to cause the Breaking.  You have information of that, information that we need in order to stop this from happening.”

_“We may but watch.  We cannot interfere.”_

“I’m not asking you to interfere.  I’m asking to know what you know about what’s going on.”

_“Then you should ask your mate.  He knows, yet he does not remember.”_

The Fae were as bad as the Great Dragons in their proclamations.  “So how do I help him recall it?”

_“You cannot.  That is up to him.  We cannot interfere.  We can only watch.”_

“And yet you want us to stop it!  How can we if we don’t know what’s going on?”

_“It shall be known in short time.  Be patient and the knowledge will come to you.”_

The dragon narrowed his eyes.   “You want us to stop it as much as we do ourselves.  The least you could do is give us something to work with!”

_“The Breaking must be stopped.  If it is not, then we will be unable to take.”_

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t be enforcing your Pact if it _is_ broken?” Ianto asked, amazed.  He knew that, if the Pact was broken and somehow the humans keep the potential Chosen Ones from being free to make their choices about joining the Fae, then the world would be forfeit.  The Fae would bring back ice and storm and sweep away everything living on the planet.

The elder Fae glared at the dragon.  _“No.  You must listen.  There would be no world left in which to take what we are due.  The humans would suffer such destruction as has yet to be seen in any war they wage against themselves.”_

That proclamation sent a shiver up the dragon’s spine, involuntarily shaking his wings.  This was far worse than anything Ianto could have guessed.  He’d only been thinking of keeping the Pact from being broken.  But, if what the elder Fae was claiming was indeed true, then the world would be worse off and it wouldn’t matter if the Pact was broken or not.

“Thank you,” he said, ducking his head in respect.  “I also wish to Name.  Will you witness?”

The Fae returned the bow.  _“We shall.  Name them.”_

“Patrick Delaware.  Alice Carter.  Steven Carter.  Deborah Morrison –“

_“Their true names,”_ the Fae demanded.

Of course; he should have remembered that.  “Melissa Moretti.  Emma-Louise Cowell.”  He didn’t need to change Steven’s, as this was the name he had been born with.  “Rhys Williams. Tom Milligan.”

_“Agreed.  We recognize them as yours, although there truly had been no need to Name the Air Dragon’s Chosen.”_

“I know, but she is my family now, bound by Mating and by Choice.  It is only right that I Name her as well.”

_“And as you know, one only to break this Pact and all that entails.”_

“Agreed.  I would also like to remove one from my Naming, by dint of broken faith with me and mine.”

The Fae looked gleeful.  _“Remove them, ancient one.”_

He took a deep breath.  He’d thought about this for a long time, and it really was the only thing he could do.  “Gwen Cooper is no longer Named by me.  I renounce her.”

Ianto knew what this meant; that removing Gwen from his list of family would open her up to a lack of protection against anything that might come after her.  But there really was no choice in the matter, simply because in her Retconned state she wouldn’t even know she would be risking damage to him and those she no longer remembered.  He had to cut her loose from him and his family, and it should have been done a long time ago.

_“Agreed,”_ the elder answered.  _“Although it seems as if this was a Naming that never should have occurred.”_

“Yes, it was.”

_“It is good that you know that now, before this one broke your Pact with her, albeit unintentionally.”_

Honestly, Ianto was surprised it hadn’t happened before now.

_“You must go.  There are things that must be done and time is short.  Go to your mate; he will soon know his part in all of this. And you must know that this was yet another reason we did not wish you to Name him, however time has shown us that he is worth Naming.  Go, now.”_

The Fae elder leapt into the air, his wings causing dead leaves to swirl around the stone.  The others responded, and within seconds the area was empty of them.

Ianto transformed into his human form once more, in order to leave Roundstone Wood.  He got some answers…now it was up to the team to interpret them.

He also needed to talk to Jack.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**_16 September 2009_ **

 

“What did they mean by that?” Jack demanded.

He’d met Ianto on the roof of the Millennium Centre, where he’d been waiting almost from the time his mate had flown off.  Leaving that way made the most sense, since it was highly doubtful that whoever was stalking them would think to look up, let alone equating a dragon with Torchwood’s Second. 

“I have no idea,” Ianto admitted, as they headed down toward the Hub together.  “Only that you know, but you don’t remember.  So probably something in the past?”

“Must be.”  Jack chewed his lip fretfully.  He’d done so much in his past that he was ashamed of, and it looked like one of those things was coming back to haunt him.  “Jesus, Ianto…how do we even figure out what it is?”

“I’m guessing, from what the Fae told me, that we’ll find out what it is soon.  Hopefully Toshiko will come up with something, or a clue drops into our laps.” 

Ianto wrapped an arm around Jack’s waist as they entered the Hub.  Jack appreciated the closeness; he’d felt like it was something he’d been missing, even though Ianto had only been gone several hours.  There were times when Jack felt as if the two of them were connected in some elemental way, and that had only grown since they’d flown their mating flight. 

Jack wished he could transform into a dragon once more, but that had been a one-time event.  Still, Ianto had never thought of him less than an equal partner in their relationship, and while Jack missed the excitement and glory and _togetherness_ of the mating flight, he knew it really didn’t matter.  They’d been mates before their mating, and they would still be when the sun finally died. 

What they had was for eternity.  Jack had never really thought about it before, but it meant he would never be alone again.  It was his greatest wish and desire come true.

“Have you found us any allies?” Ianto asked as Deborah appeared, bringing him a cup of coffee.  He thanked her, and she smiled then headed back to the terminal she’d been using to see if anything was being mentioned on the major news networks all over the world.

“Maybe,” Jack answered.  “I spoke to Sarah Jane Smith, and she’s got feelers out for any news.  She also went ahead and contacted the Brigadier, as well as a friend of hers who used to work for NATO –“

“Commodore Sullivan?”

“That’s right,” Jack agreed.  “She says neither has heard anything, but Sir Alistair thinks that UNIT is behaving oddly and he doesn’t trust Oduya.  The Commodore told her that NATO is trying to figure it out themselves, with their own equipment, and he thought they might have some leads he’d be willing to pass along, one Companion to another.”  He’d known that Harry Sullivan had travelled with the Doctor’s fourth incarnation, at the same time as Ms. Smith, and had spoken with the man a couple of times.  Jack had been impressed with his manners and old-fashioned charm.  “Ms. Smith had her supercomputer working on it as well, so hopefully we’ll be hearing something soon.”

“That’s good,” Ianto sighed, his arm tightening around Jack and pulling him even closer.

“I also bit the bullet and contacted Patrick’s family,” Jack added.  “They have their fingers in pies all over the States.  According to his father, Homeland Security is considering this a threat and they’ve elevated to Level Yellow, and the President is thinking of raising it to Orange.  They’re just waiting for more information, as is SHIELD, who have their scientists on it.  Also, Martha and Tom are back.  They’re in London now, and Martha is trying to get some straight answers but she says they’re blocking her.  She…also tried to call the Doctor, but there was no answer.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Ianto said.

“Me, neither.”  Jack sighed.  There wasn’t a thing he could change about their relationship with the Time Lord.  It was as if he’d decided to wipe his hands of Earth…or at least any former companions who had a way to reach him.

“Jack!  Ianto!” Deborah called out from the workstation she’d been using.

Ianto dropped his arm – and Jack missed it right away – and together they moved quickly to where the young woman was sitting.  “What is it?” Jack asked.

“The children,” Deborah answered, “they’re chanting again.”

She raised the volume on her terminal, and the eerie sounds of millions of children speaking in unison filled the Hub.

_“We…we…we…we…”_

It sent a chill up Jack’s spine.  Ianto must have sensed his upset, because the dragon’s hand went onto his shoulder.  Toshiko and Owen had both joined them, watching the news report that Deborah had found.

_“We are…We are…We are…We are…”_

“This is so fucking wrong,” Owen swore.  “Nothing we’ve done has gotten us any closer to what the hell’s doing this.”

_“We are coming…We are coming…We are coming…We are coming…”_

“It’s a repeat from yesterday,” Toshiko sighed.  “If only we knew who they were -“

And then, things changed.

_“We are coming tomorrow…We are coming tomorrow…We are coming tomorrow…We are coming tomorrow…”_

“So now we have a time limit,” Jack whispered.  He was creeped out by the sheer alienness of the sound, and he put his own arm around his mate and held him close.  He felt comforted by the closeness, the heat of Ianto’s body grounding him.

The children repeated their chant once more, and then went back to normal, as if nothing had happened.  

“I’ve tested for everything,” Owen groused.  “It’s not an advanced form of blood control, there are ways to test for that, even after the chanting stops.  The only things I can come up with are: some kind of telepathic control; something to do with hormones, which would make sense due to the ages of the children involved; or maybe a technological advancement so beyond us we don’t have any context for it.”

“Do you have a way to test for either of the first two?” Jack asked.

The medic ran his hand through his hair.  “Sure, but it needs to be during the act of control.  Testing before and after doesn’t work for shit.  There’s also the problem of getting someone to go along with me hooking up their precious babies to an EEG and watch what their brains are doing while they act like human communicators for some god dammed aliens or whatever. ”

Jack sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  He was getting a headache.  “What if you could be somewhere there are children whose parents trust you?”

Owen was silent for a moment.  “You’re thinking about Ddraig Llyn, aren’t you.”  It wasn’t a question.

“The villagers trust you,” Ianto pointed out.  “Plus there are several children there.”

“That’s true,” the medic agreed.  “However, there’s getting me there when we have some sort of team on our arses.”

“We could call and have someone come and pick him up,” Toshiko suggested.

It was a good idea, and it would mean that one more of Jack’s team might be safe.  “Calling from the landline would be safe?” he confirmed.

Toshiko nodded.  “Both your phone and the one at the Green Dragon Inn are both on secured lines.  No one could tap either one without the proper encryption codes.  I’d guarantee it.”

“As far as we know, no one has connected Ddraig Llyn with Torchwood,” Jack said.

“No,” Toshiko answered.  “Whatever information I happened to drop on our friendly hackers always listed Ianto’s city of birth as Cardiff.  I had quite an interesting background made up for him, including a stint at Torchwood London and a cybernetically-enhanced girlfriend.”

Jack’s eyes widened at her comments but he didn’t question; Toshiko knew what she was doing.  “Then we’re good.  Ianto, call up Rhiannon and see if she can’t send someone down in a van to pick up Owen and his equipment.”  He drew in a breath, because he knew what he was about to say would not go over well.  “Deborah, I want you and Toshiko to go with Owen –“

“Jack, no!” Toshiko cried.  “You need me here!”

“You can work on your hacking there just as easily as you can here,” he said gently.  “You’re the one who set up the system out there, after all.”

She didn’t look happy.  “I don’t want to leave Kathy.”

“You know Kathy won’t leave her duty,” Ianto pointed out.  “And you also know she’d want you out of harms’ way.”

Toshiko’s chin lifted defiantly.  “What about you two?  You can’t stay here on your own!”

“Actually, I don’t intend for us to stay in Cardiff, either,” Jack said.  “While we don’t know exactly who’s behind what in this, I want to head to London and talk to some of our contacts face-to-face.”

“You just want to punch Frobisher in the nose,” Ianto sighed.

“Well, if his face happens to get into the way of my fist, I can’t help it!” Jack said innocently.  Personally, he really would like to hit someone, and Frobisher was on that list.  The man had continuously ducked his calls and Jack was certain Frobisher was the one responsible for setting the hackers onto their mainframe.

“What if they get into our system while I’m transferring to Ddraig Llyn?” she asked, sounding put out.

“Is that a chance?”

She chewed on her lip nervously.  “I doubt it; I have things too well shored up for anyone to get in.”

“Then you’ve just blown your own argument.”  Jack rested his hands on her shoulders.  “Toshiko, it’s going to get to the point where they’ll move against the Hub directly.  For now, they’re simply willing to keep us under surveillance and we have to take the time given to us to make a retreat to a place we know they won’t follow.  You can keep working for the time it’ll take someone to get here, but I really think the best thing we could do is evacuate the Hub at this time and put it into total lockdown.”

“And you can do me a favour,” Ianto added.  “I have some of the good chocolate for Myfanwy, and you can take it up to her.” 

Jack nodded.  One of the best things they’d done was move their pteranodon up to the valley where she could fly free.  The villagers loved her and pampered her shamelessly. 

“Ianto’s missing her,” Jack teased.  “He’s missing his flying partner.”

Ianto huffed, and the light banter seemed to raise the atmosphere of doom that had pervaded the Hub.   “Yes, I’m sure I miss cleaning up after her when Owen leaves his leftover pizza out for her to eat.”

“That only happened once!” Owen snarked.  “And how were we supposed to know that prehistoric watch dogs can’t digest pizza dough?”

“Anyway,” Jack jumped back in, “while I know you disagree with my decision, I _am_ the leader here.  We’ll contact someone in Ddraig Llyn and have them come and pick you all up.  Oh, and Estelle, too.  I don’t like her being on her own even with what she can do.”

Deborah nodded.  “Alright, Jack; I’ll go.”

“Yeah, me too,” Owen agreed.  “It’ll be hours before anyone can get here, so I’ll just figure out what I need to take with me.  I know Tosh also set up a medical bay up there, but I also know just how rudimentary it is.”

“Thank you both.”  Jack looked at Toshiko, awaiting her answer.  He knew she hated to run like this, but there really was no choice.  Yes, the Hub was practically impenetrable when in lockdown but whoever was out there could decide to come at them in a completely different way, and Jack didn’t want to risk anyone.  There was still the backdoor through the Cardiff sewers, and although the Weevils along the way pretty much guaranteed that way would be a bad path to take, he simply didn’t trust those bastards not to find it and go in, guns blazing, and it would be a massacre.

Finally, his technician sighed.  “Okay, I’ll go.  But I want to let Kathy know where I am, so she won’t worry.”

“Fair enough.”  Jack was relieved that that was as easy as it was.  He’d thought he’d have to argue a bit more.

“I just think it’s a waste of time,” she continued, “not when I could be working to get into MI5 and the Home Office servers.”

“Noted.”  Yes, she could be correct in that, but Jack still felt the need to keep everyone safe.   “You can keep working until we can arrange things.”  He reached over and rested a hand gently on her shoulder.  If he already didn’t know she was mad, the trembling under his fingers would have been enough to communicate that to him directly.  “Toshiko,” he murmured, “I know you feel like this is a waste of time, and I do understand.  But according to the chanting the main threat won’t even be here until tomorrow.  But, until then, we simply cannot trust anyone at this moment.  We’re being kept out and hunted, and it has to be because of the children.  I’m still not certain why, but that’s up to you to find out.  I trust you to work your own brand of magic and help figure this out.  But I also need to know you’re in a place of safety in order to do that, and the Hub just isn’t safe anymore.  It’s a delay, and I understand that, but you are far too important for me to risk right now.  If Kathy were standing here, she’d agree with me one hundred percent.”

She rolled her eyes, but the trembling was calming down a little.  “Oh, don’t you dare use my spouse against me, Jack Harkness, because I can turn that around on you so easily…”

He smiled. “Yes, you can.  And you also know how I feel about putting my mate in danger.”  He met her gaze, trying to project to her the pride and love and fear he was feeling.  “Any other mission we’d stay here and tough it out.  But we’re talking about parts of our own government seemingly gunning for us.  Toshiko…my Toshiko…we’re only a team of six.  Going against both aliens and MI5…it’s not a winning situation, and I think you know that.”

She nodded.  “I do, Jack.  That’s what scares me more than anything, leaving you and Ianto to face things here and in London alone.  This is bad, Jack, and I want to be able to work on this every moment we have.”  She sighed.  “But I also know what will happen if they do manage to get into the Hub, and if we’re arrested we can’t do what it takes to help the children.  I really do know that, Jack.  But you’re also my _family_.  You and Ianto stood in the circle at my wedding, which put you on the same level as my parents.  I want you both to be safe, too.”

Jack felt such a burst of love for her in that moment that he pulled her into his arms, holding her close.  He kissed her hair, and then whispered, “If I could send Ianto away with you I would.  If I could face this danger alone…”

She stepped away, and there was a suspicious wetness in her eyes.  “You don’t get to do that, Jack.  You’re not alone anymore, and you won’t ever have to be.”

He couldn’t help the soft smile that bloomed on his face.  He was also a bit teary-eyed, but he didn’t care.  “I know that.  And even if I ever forgot it, Ianto would be happy to remind me.”

“Oh god,” Owen’s acerbic voice cut in, “if we’re gonna get all mushy, I’m gonna vomit.”

Jack turned just in time to see Deborah smack in Owen in the arm.  “You are a Neanderthal,” she exclaimed.

“No,” Ianto said, one side of his mouth curling upward, “that’s giving Neanderthals a bad name, and believe me when I say I’ve met a few, and I know.”

That caused a round of laughter, even though the dragon wasn’t nearly old enough to have been around at the time of Neanderthal Man.  Jack hated to burst the good mood, but he needed to get them all back on track.  “Ianto, can you call Rhiannon and let her know we have people coming?  I’d hate for her to be surprised when most of Torchwood lands on her.  And Toshiko, you can call Kathy in a bit and let her know you’re leaving, but you also get to work on whatever you’re hacking at the moment.  Owen –“

“Yeah, make a list of things I’ll need to take with me.”

“Exactly.  Get that to Ianto when you’re done so we can work on logistics on getting it all smuggled out of the Hub.  I’m absolutely certain we have eyes on us and we don’t need to tip them off to the evacuation.”

“I can help Owen if he wants it,” Deborah volunteered.

“Sure, darling,” the medic answered.  “You can make out the list Dragon Boy will need.”

“Okay, team,” Jack said, clapping his hands together, “let’s get to work.”

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**_Interlude – Agent Johnson_ **

****

The day had been one major fuck-up after another.

Johnson sighed, rubbing at the headache she’d developed when things began to go wrong…which would have been at 0530 this morning.   It was far too early for the day to become so screwed up.

When the agent in charge of the monitoring of Torchwood’s mobile phones had reported a conversation between Harkness and someone he called ‘Rhys’ who was out in East Grinstead, Johnson had known their intelligence regarding Torchwood personnel had been off once more.  They’d managed to trace the call, and she’d ordered a strike team in to extract the man from his motel, ordering it for 0530 knowing that most people would have been asleep at that time of the morning.

The team had completely failed because their target had had to take a fucking piss.

Another call had led them out to Grangetown, to a house that was owned by a woman named Alice Carter.   That had given them another man named Patrick Delaware, and a woman who was apparently Harkness’ daughter and a grandson.  It would have been a feather in her cap and just the leverage she’d need to get Harkness out of his lair and into her sights. 

But the reports she’d gotten from the men she’d sent to bring in Delaware and Carter had reported back that they’d escaped.  Exactly how they had managed it was incredible, and Johnson would have wondered if some alcohol had been imbibed at some point.  However, her entire team reported the same thing: that a sudden windstorm had torn off the garage door of Carter’s house and they’d simply driven off.  A few hours they’d discovered the trail at Cardiff International, that had them running for Berlin, and Carter’s car in long-term parking. 

Johnson wasn’t sure if she believed it, but at the same she had no clue where they’d gone if it wasn’t to Germany.  She would just have to put their capture aside for the time being, until the trail became cleared.

She’d had words with her contact at Thames House about the complete lack of intelligence on the fact that Harkness had family, and that Torchwood had more members than what she’d been told, and decided that trusting that source had been a mistake.  She wouldn’t accept anything else from him without outside verification.  She had her own people start searching for more information on the other members of Torchwood and Alice Carter.

And what they came up with made Johnson want to hit something.

The motel reservation had been in the name of Rhys Williams.  It was obvious that was an alias, because everyone they’d come up with that name wasn’t the man who’d rented the motel room, at least according to the desk clerk they questioned.  And someone must have gotten to Alice Carter’s records, because while they’d been able to get property records and vehicle registration records earlier in the night, when they’d gone to do a complete check nothing about her existed any longer.  Even the school records for her son, Steven, were gone.  She’d been scrubbed from existence.

However, what they’d found on this Patrick person raised Johnson’s hackles.  Former US Army; former FBI; an expert in current and archaic weapons…the man was competent in a way that Johnson wanted for her own team.

But the rest of his file…it had been so thoroughly redacted that the pages were practically blackened in.  Someone whose background was such high security that not even MI5 could get a hold of it was someone she really didn’t want to get involved with, mainly because she didn’t have a real clue as to what she was dealing with.

There had also been a call to the Cardiff police, but no names had been given since apparently whoever answered had known who Sato was, and she’d just left a message but with no name, and the message had simply said that Torchwood was going into lockdown, and to not expect her.  Whatever that meant.

Johnson had even ordered raids on the homes of the Torchwood operatives…or the ones that she knew of.  She had discovered that Harkness obviously lived with Jones, and that Torchwood’s Second had eclectic tastes in antiques and owned more gold and gems than anyone should have the right to, and that had raised questions about how he’d obtained them.  She’d had them confiscated and then had a check on his financials run before freezing his account and found out that the man was at least a millionaire, which was something else they hadn’t known.

Harkness was also quite wealthy, but then from what Johnson knew the man was immortal and had had plenty of time to invest.  There was so much they hadn’t known about the Torchwood team, and it was irritating that she’d been sent in with half-arsed intelligence and practically no way to get more because they’d only managed to get ears into the mobile network.  Torchwood was far too secure for them to get any other forms of surveillance in place.

Johnson had to get them out of their hidey hole, and she had no idea how.  She didn’t even know how many were in the Hub, because there could be other team members she wasn’t aware of.  There was no way to make a frontal assault; setting up the Tourist Office had been a good idea, since that meant there was an easily defensible entrance down into the Hub, but it seemed as if that entrance was no longer a valid one.  Johnson knew there had to be other entrances, but she simply couldn’t trust anything that her contact had given her.  So, she had one of her agents checking sewer layouts and construction records, to see if there was some way she could infiltrate without giving her movements away.

It certainly didn’t help that a major tourist attraction sat right on top of the Cardiff Rift.  Even if the place was empty because of the panic caused by the children chanting destroying it to get to the Torchwood Hub would raise more questions they just couldn’t afford to have asked.

Johnson was concerned about the children, but it wasn’t her job and so she compartmentalised that away and concentrated on the taking of the Torchwood team.  Harkness was under Blank Page order – and at least her men hadn’t failed in the termination of the others under the same order – and if she could also take out the rest of Torchwood, so much the better.  She just needed to get them to come out.

This was why she was walking up to the Cardiff CID. 

Patanjali had told her that people in Cardiff had heard rumours of Torchwood, but nothing really beyond that except they were usually involved in weird shit that occurred all over the city.  No one really knew what Torchwood did, but then it seemed as if no one really cared, as long as the city was still in one piece in the morning.  Others were suspicious, and it was that suspicion Johnson was hoping to play on.

There was bustle inside the large building.  Johnson removed her sunglasses and made her way over to the front desk, where two sergeants were fielding calls that Johnson was willing to bet were about the chanting children.  She pushed herself to the front of the queue that had formed, getting one of the desk sergeant’s attention.  The woman looked irritated.  “You have to go to the back of the line,” she said sharply. 

“I’m here to see Detective Chief Inspector Swanson,” Johnson replied, her voice in a tone of command.

“Yeah, so are a lot of other people,” the desk sergeant answered, unimpressed.  “You’ll have to wait like everyone else.”

Johnson wanted to reach across the countertop and shake the copper.  Instead, she reached into a pocket and pulled out her identification.  “I’m with MI5.”  She flashed it at the desk sergeant.

The woman simply rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  Up the stairs, office back and to the left.  But don’t expect her to give you much time; we’re swamped around here in case you didn’t notice.”

As Johnson made her way past busy constables and toward the office she’d been pointed to, she thought about what she knew about DCI Swanson.  The woman had been a detective sergeant when she’d been transferred from Newport, and had quickly risen through the ranks to finally be put in charge of the detective force there at Cardiff after the terrorist attacks from the beginning of the year had decimated the highest ranking officers on the local force.  She’d been the top copper left alive, thanks to her being out in the field at the time.  Her record supported the promotion; Swanson was no-nonsense with a fine sense of justice.  Johnson felt she could count on her to help dig Torchwood out of its hole.

The door was open, so Johnson simply entered.  The woman at the desk looked up at her, dark eyes sharp as she evaluated Johnson.  “So, you’re with MI5,” she said sharply.  “Yeah, you show up now.  Have a seat and tell me what I can do to get you out of my city as quickly as possible.”

Johnson was slightly taken aback by the DCI’s attitude.  She did sit, setting the briefcase she’d brought with her onto the floor and making her own evaluation.  Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Swanson was a striking woman; not classically beautiful, but carrying her intelligence in her piercing gaze and quick appraisal.  Her dark hair was done up in tiny braids that were pulled back away from her face, bringing her cheekbones into sharp relief.  She was dark-skinned and slimly built, and she looked very competent in the blue suit she was wearing.

Her desk was cluttered, but there did seem to be some sort of order to the documents.  Swanson had been working at the computer was well, judging from the pale light from the monitor lighting up the side of her face.  There weren’t any personal items on it except for a framed picture turned away just enough that Johnson could not make it out.

She’d worked on her cover story before she’d driven there.  Knowing Swanson’s background and how she’d got her current job, Johnson had come up with something that was bound to get her the help she was looking for.

“Thank you for seeing me, DCI Swanson,” she began.

Swanson made a waving motion with her left hand.  A flash of red-gold caught Johnson’s attention; it was a wedding ring made from Welsh gold.  “Look, I don’t have time for bullshit.  I have panicking parents and a series of break-ins to investigate.  So, if you don’t mind getting on with it, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Johnson knew at once that the break-ins had been the ones at Jones’ house, and Delaware’s and Harper’s flats.  They hadn’t bothered with the tourist girl; enough digging had proven that Deborah Morrison was, indeed, a paid worker for the Welsh Tourism Board, which had convinced Johnson that that particular entrance into the Torchwood Hub no longer existed.  They’d also had a problem finding Sato’s residence; apparently she’d moved somewhere and hadn’t left a forwarding address, which would have made Johnson wonder if she was even with Torchwood anymore except that she’d heard about Harkness’ deal with UNIT over the scientist.   She had to still be in Cardiff, there just simply wasn’t anything under her name in the property records.

“Alright,” Johnson agreed.  “I’m here because we’ve received word that a terrorist cell has taken up residence here in Cardiff.”

One elegant eyebrow lifted, and Swanson leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.  “Oh, really?  And MI5 sends an agent of theirs to let me know this, instead of their usual, rather dismissive phone call?”

Johnson should have expected this sort of attitude.  The more important agencies were always stepping on local toes, and hers was no exception.  “We know you’ve been through terrorist attacks in the past, and this is MI5’s purview, after all.”

“Yeah, and where were you when a quarter of the city had been blown up?” Swanson accused.  “We didn’t see hide nor hair of your lot before or after the explosions.  Why are you interested now?”

This was getting out of hand.  “That doesn’t matter.  What does, is that I’m here now to share information and to arrange a cooperative effort between our two agencies in order to bring these terrorists to justice.  They may even be the same terrorists who planted the earlier bombs that destroyed large parts of your city.”

Swanson examined her closely.  Johnson sat serenely, not really bothered all that much by the scrutiny.  “So you’re saying the terrorists you’re chasing might be the ones responsible for the bombings.”  It wasn’t a question.

“I am, yes.”

“Alright.”  She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the open files laying on her desk and staring at her, a challenge in her eyes.  “Tell me what you know and I’ll see if we can come to some sort of arrangement.”

“We do know that they’ve been in your city for a long time now, but beyond that we’re not sure how they started up.”  Of course, this was a lie; MI5 was well aware of how Torchwood was chartered, but she had to convince Swanson to help her.  “We finally have proof that they’re behind several attacks upon innocent people, and we need to find them quickly before they can strike again.”

Swanson’s eyes had narrowed.  “Do you have any information about just who these terrorists are?”  Her voice had gone hard.

Johnson knew then that she had the police officer.  She wanted to grin, but was a professional and could deny herself that pleasure.  “We know there are at least five in the cell.”  She reached for her briefcase, balancing it on her lap as she opened it.  They’d prepared some files and pictures to let the DCI look at…all properly cleaned of true facts and fixed to reflect the cover story, of course. 

She spread the photos onto the desk.  They’d all been taken from surveillance cameras, but she didn’t have one of the elusive Rhys Williams, since the motel’s CCTV had been down at the time the man had checked in.  “These are the ones we know about.  This man,” she stabbed a finger at one of them, “is their leader, Jack Harkness.”  She also named the other members of Torchwood.  “There’s one member we don’t have intelligence on; only a name: Rhys Williams.”

Swanson snorted.  “That’s not an unusual name in the area.”  She was flipping through the photos, stopping at one of them.  “I believe I know this one.”  She held up the picture of Toshiko Sato, which had been taken a couple of years ago from video surveillance from Albion Hospital, when the Space Pig had landed during the aborted Slitheen invasion. 

Johnson couldn’t help but smile.  It seemed she’d come to the right place.  “Fantastic, DCI Swanson.  Where have you seen her?”

The chief inspector smiled as well, but there was something in it that had Johnson suddenly lose her good humour.  “Right here,” Swanson said, turning the framed photo on her desk around.

It was obviously a wedding photograph.  Mountains painted a beautiful backdrop for the newly wedded pair, and a lake with old trees around it simply added to the serenity of the picture.  Swanson was in it, and she was smiling almost soppily into the camera, wearing a white dress that glowed against her dusky skin.

The other half of the couple was Toshiko Sato, also dressed in white and holding a bright bouquet.  She was smiling just as soppily.

“You know,” Swanson drawled, “there are penalties for bringing false charges.  And, since you’ve obviously decided to target my wife, I’m going to see that you’re tossed into one of our cells and the key thrown away.”  She stood up, shouting, “Davidson!”

Johnson was completely and utterly gobsmacked.  She was frozen in her chair, looking at the wedding photo of Swanson and Sato.  How had they not known this?   This information…this was big.  It showed that everything they’d assumed about the relationship between the Cardiff police and Torchwood had been completely and utterly wrong. 

This was who Sato left the message for.  Her spouse.

It showed that she’d walked into a trap of sorts.  That the moment she’d set foot into the building she’d been heading for disaster.  She’d thought to find help amid the normal coppers there, and it turned out that their chief inspector was very tightly allied with the very team she’d wanted to seek aid in rooting out of their burrow.

Swanson was smirking.  “I can’t believe you walked right in here and expected us to help you take down Torchwood.  And in case you were interested, that team has done more for this city – for this planet – than you can imagine.  Cardiff is always going to be loyal to Torchwood…just as Torchwood is loyal to us.  They might not always work on the up-and-up, but what they do is always on behalf of innocents.  We may not like the need to have them here, but we’re sure as hell glad they are.”  She looked past Johnson to someone standing in the doorway.  “Davidson, would you mind escorting our guest to our nicest cell?  I think she’s going to be staying here for quite a while and we may as well make her comfortable.”

With those words, Johnson shook off her surprise.  She also stood.  “I don’t think I’ll be here long, actually.  You seem to forget who I work for.”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Swanson assured her.  “But what you don’t seem to consider is that we’re really overworked here.  Who knows when we’ll get around to letting your bosses know you’ve been taken into custody?  Sometimes people just fall through the cracks.” She grinned almost evilly.  “Davidson, please handcuff and caution the accused.”

“Please put your hands behind your back,” a cheerful male voice said from behind Johnson.   The cold metal of the cuff against her wrist made her jerk, and she considered fighting her way out.  But really, how was she going to get out of a building full of cops, even if they were all unarmed? 

Besides, this entire mission had been a clusterfuck from the get-go.  Perhaps she’d be better off letting them arrest her?  At least she couldn’t be completely at fault when the shit hit the fan.

“You do not have to say anything,” the man Swanson called Davidson began, sounding inordinately happy about the whole thing, “but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, upon questioning, anything that you later rely on in court.  Anything you say may be given as evidence.  Do you understand?”

Johnson couldn’t help but laugh.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is Explicit, because the boys just had to have some fun, which they didn't get in the original episodes. There are no beans involved, but I don't think they much cared!

**_17 September 2009_ **

**_Day Three_ **

****

It was very early in the morning, and sharp blue eyes, slitted like a cat’s, stared down from the roof of the Millennium Centre at the unmarked black van that was sitting in a small car park on Bute Street.

The dragon knew who was in that van.  He and Jack had been watching it ever since they’d seen it on CCTV footage of the area, and it hadn’t moved in the nearly eight hours since it had been spotted.  The fancy aerial on the roof of the van gave it away as a surveillance vehicle.

They might have left them alone, because it was fairly obvious they weren’t getting any more intelligence from the Hub.  They’d been able to plan getting Owen, Deborah, and Toshiko out of the Hub and to Ddraig Llyn using the main phone line for the Hub and it had gone off without a hitch, even with all the bloody equipment Owen had felt he’d needed to take with them.  They’d managed to smuggle everything to a warehouse where it would be less noticeable if a lorry showed up and started loading things up and Johnny Davies and John Ellis had arrived right on time.  Together they managed to get everything into the lorry in record time, and after one more small argument from Toshiko about leaving them alone their team had gotten on the road just after full dark.

But if Ianto heard one more joke about being the team’s pack horse from Owen, he was going to show him just how hot a dragon’s flame could be.

The game changer though had been when Kathy had called to inform them that she’d had the MI5 agent who had come to try to enlist her help arrested.  There had been a bit of cursing from her, but she’d sounded quite pleased with herself.  Besides, if one had been taken out of the action, why not take out a few more?

This was why the dragon was perched on the roof of the Millennium Centre, waiting for Jack to make his appearance.

He caught movement to his left; turning, he saw Jack striding along the road, illuminated by the lamp posts, his greatcoat flapping the slight breeze, and a jaunty step to his movements that made the dragon smile.  He recalled the look on Jack’s face when they’d decided to do this; but then they were both tired of simply reacting to whatever was going on around them.  Now they could act, and their team wouldn’t be in danger when it got back to whoever was giving the orders that this team had lost contact.  That was bound to cause a stir, and Jack was expecting an attempted assault on the Hub. 

Still, they’d get one blow in.  And, hopefully these agents would have information they could use.

When Jack got close to the van, the dragon took flight.

His mate happened to look up, and waved to Ianto as he passed overhead.  The dragon didn’t have a lot of altitude, but then he really didn’t need all that much to make his own move.

The whole weight of the dragon landed on the roof of the van, crushing the fancy aerial.

The vehicle, though, didn’t have the reinforced body and suspension that the Torchwood SUV did.  The van actually slammed into the ground, all four tires blowing out and the distinct sound of metal groaning and then breaking under the dragon echoed over the near-empty street.  The van’s roof crumpled under the dragon’s claws, and Ianto had to hold on to avoid being lurched about as it began to collapse.

He could make out muffled cursing from within the van, and as if ejected from the barrel of a weapon three black-clad agents leapt out of the now-totalled vehicle.  They were met by a grinning Jack, who was standing there with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the guns that had appeared in their hands.

The dragon thought his mate looked every inch the hero, and suddenly couldn’t wait to get him alone.

“I think you might wanna drop those guns, boys,” Jack said, sounding happier than he’d been since this entire thing began.   “I don’t think my companion here would like it very much if you shot me.”  He pointed toward the wrecked van.

The dragon gave them a glimpse of every tooth he had, all sharp and ready to do some damage.

Ianto couldn’t help it; he was enjoying himself as much as Jack was. “I’m very hungry, and you three look like a decent snack,” he rumbled, flicking his tongue out to lick his muzzle.

All three of the agents immediately dropped their weapons.  One of them actually fainted. 

It was a good morning.

“Now,” Jack went on, bringing three sets of handcuffs out of his coat pocket, “I think we all know how this goes, don’t we?  Hands behind your backs…well, except for the smart one on the ground.  He showed really good sense in passing out, I think.”

“We’re with MI5,” one of the men exclaimed as Jack stepped forward.  “We’re on surveillance duty –“

“Yes, I know,” Jack said.  “Since we’re the ones you’re currently surveilling.”  He looked up at Ianto.  “Is that actually a word?”

“I don’t think so,” the dragon chuckled.  One of the other agents went even paler at the sound.

“We take our orders from the government,” the first agent snapped.

“Yeah, see…you’re dealing with Torchwood,” Jack answered sharply.  “We’ve above the government.  So, really, we can do anything with you we choose.  And my dragon friend here is hungry.  He missed his virgin sacrifice last night.”

“I gave up virgins for Lent, Captain,” the dragon joined in the teasing.

“Do dragons even observe Lent?  And I thought it was near the beginning of the year!”

“It was.  But I never started up again, because virgins are so hard to find anymore.  I really do miss the days when I could find virgins in every village.”  The dragon leaned forward, sniffing them as if he could really tell by smell that someone was still a virgin.  “Are any of you gentlemen untouched?  I do wish to taste virgin flesh once more.”

He wanted to laugh as both men looked at each other, and then back at him, perched on their demolished surveillance van, which was still creaking under Ianto’s weight.  Almost in unison they had their hands behind their backs, and Jack was snapping the cuffs on.  Jack had them down on their knees and had finished restraining the one already on the ground before he gave Ianto another look.  “You wanna give me a hand getting them to the cells?”

The dragon winked, and then he was changing shape, his human form crouched on the torn-up van roof.  With a graceful flip he landed onto the pavement.  “Your wish is my command,” he said, giving Jack an exaggerated bow and ignoring the shocked looks on their prisoners’ faces.  “Shall I also call Kathy and have her tow this mess to impound?” Kathy would be more than happy to collect the wreckage and hold it for them to pick up later.  There was no way this vehicle was going back to MI5.  After all, they owed Toshiko for sending her up to Ddraig Llyn.

“Might not be a bad idea,” Jack answered.  “I’d hate for someone to find it and steal any of the top secret equipment inside.  After all, it would be terrible if that got into the wrong hands.”

Ianto quickly bundled up the fainted agent, tossing him casually over one shoulder.  “Let’s show our guests their new accommodations, and I’ll let Kathy know she needs to come and collect some trash.”

Jack picked up the abandoned guns and slipped them into his pockets.  “Lead the way,” he said, waving Ianto forward.

Ianto couldn’t help but smile.  That had been fun, even if he wouldn’t admit that to anyone else.

 

**********

 

“So, gentlemen,” Jack said, looking through the tempered plastic of the cell wall, where their prisoners were busily glaring at him, “I hope we can foster a sense of cooperation here.  As in, I don’t feed you to the big, bad dragon…and in exchange you tell me what you know about what’s going on.”

Ianto didn’t think they were going to cooperate.  These were highly trained operatives, and wouldn’t give anything away, even under threat of being his dinner.  Still, Ianto stood next to his mate, giving the men within the cell his best manic smile.  He let his eyes flicker into their natural state, and the man who’d fainted licked his own lips nervously.

The thing was, as much as Ianto hated the idea of being feared, in this circumstance it was for the best.  This situation was serious, and they really needed to know what they were going up against.  Yes, it was obvious MI5 was involved, and they were fairly certain this went up to John Frobisher and that UNIT in some way had its own fingers in this particular pie.  But until they had actual, certain intelligence they were almost stuck.  All they really knew was that it had to do with the children chanting and for some strange reason none of them wanted the experts on the job and where, in fact, trying desperately to keep them out.

“They’ll know we’re off grid,” one of the agents – their obvious leader – said haughtily.  “They’ll send someone to look for us.”

“Yes, but they don’t know where you are,” Jack pointed out.  “They’ll know we have you, but they’ll have no way of getting in here to get you out.  No, I’m sorry, but you’re here for as long as I say so.”  Jack considered for a second. “No, I’m not actually sorry.”

“You should also know that your Agent Johnson is currently cooling her heels in a police cell,” Ianto added.  “Unfortunately for her, Cardiff’s police have been really busy lately and…well, she may accidentally be ‘misfiled’ for a while.”  He smiled again.  “This is what you get for coming into our town and messing with our people.”

“Cardiff is our city,” Jack said.  “And we don’t take kindly for government assholes coming in and acting like they know what’s best.  Your orders were obviously to take Torchwood out of the picture, and that’s something we can’t allow.  Now, you’re gonna sit back and enjoy your new digs until we see fit to let you go…if ever.  You’re so deep under Cardiff right now no one would be able to find you.”  He leaned closer, smirking.  “I also think we should introduce you to your neighbour.”  He moved back.  “Mister Jones, would you mind doing the honours?”

“Not at all, Captain Harkness.” 

They’d put them in the cell next to Janet’s, and it took only a few moments to get their resident Weevil on her chain and calmed down enough to be taken out of her own cell.  Janet shuffled out at Ianto’s command, and then squatted as she sniffed toward her new ‘roommates’.  The man who’d fainted stepped back with a gasp; the one who’d been speaking to them – taunting them, really – swallowed convulsively.  The third wouldn’t look at the Weevil beyond some shifty eye movements.

“While I admit she’s not as scary as a dragon,” Jack said, “she’s infinitely more dangerous.  At least the dragon will warn you before he eats you.”  He made the gesture to return her to her cell. 

Janet hissed at them for good measure as she was pulled back by Ianto’s grip on her chain.   She settled back into her cell easily, used to having humans – and human-shaped dragons – handling her.

“So you see,” Jack said, sounding like he was enjoying the lecture, “there’s a lot more going on in this world than what you believe.  We’re not alone, gentlemen, and Torchwood knows how to handle things.  Now, I know you don’t have all the facts, but I think you can share a few things with me.  We’re only here to help, and your interference has hindered that.  All we want to know is who sent you, and what you were told about this operation.  You’re keeping us from doing our jobs, and we don’t like that.”

The three men stayed silent.

“Yeah, thought so.”  Jack spun on his heel, glancing at his mate.  “We don’t have time for this.  Let’s leave them alone to stew for a bit.  We have work to do.”

Ianto matched Jack stride for stride as they headed up to the main Hub.  Ianto was a bit disappointed that their prisoners hadn’t talked, but he’d known they wouldn’t.  Those men could have valuable information on what was going on, but at the same time he knew they had to be lower level agents, and doubted that they’d been trusted with too much.

They were barely back up into the main area when Ianto felt Jack grab him and push him against the wall.  Jack’s lips were on his, and Ianto groaned into them, wrapping his arms around his mate and pulling him even closer, opening his mouth to his mate’s insistent kisses.  “You have no idea how hot you were,” Jack whispered when they finally came up for air.  “Standing on that van, looking like you wanted to eat those bastards for breakfast…damnit, what you do to me…”

“Shut up and touch me,” Ianto demanded, getting his hand between them and palming Jack’s cock through his trousers.  His mate was hard, and the dragon wasn’t far behind.

“Bossy,” Jack teased, but before Ianto could say anything their mouths were crushed together once more, and Jack’s fingers were nimbly unfastening Ianto’s belt to get inside.

Ianto couldn’t believe how turned on he was.   It had been a long time since he and Jack had done it fast and dirty, and he found he couldn’t wait.  His own fingers were busily making their way into Jack’s own trousers, and he wrapped one hand around Jack’s length at almost the same time Jack was doing the same to him.

Both of them groaned at the contact.  Ianto threw his head back as far as he could, being pressed against the cold wall, and Jack took the opportunity to lick a stripe down the dragon’s neck to his Adam’s apple as he began to stroke his hand roughly up and down Ianto’s human cock.

The dragon began to hum.  It wasn’t anything in particular, and in a way he wasn’t really aware that he was doing it, but he and Jack set up a rhythm to it, pumping in time to the sound as Jack panted against Ianto’s throat, his breath hot against the place where he’d run his tongue. 

It was over embarrassingly quickly for both of them.  Ianto came first, and Jack not even a second later, both of them gasping at the climax. 

Jack slumped against Ianto, his hand still within the dragon’s trousers.  Ianto was gasping, and he unfurled his fingers with difficulty, bringing his hand out and wishing for a cloth or something to clean up with.  He glanced down at Jack’s now-sweaty hair as his mate relaxed against his chest, leaning just a little forward and kissing the top of Jack’s head.

“I don’t know why singing does it for me,” Jack muttered, sounding quite sated, “but the best sex we have is when we have a bit of musical accompaniment.”

Ianto huffed a laugh.  “It’s a dragon thing, and you know that,” he answered, his own voice sounding just as sated.  Then he chuckled.  “It’s a good thing I have a change of clothes here, because I think I just ruined this shirt.”

“But it’s a good kind of ruined.”  Jack pulled away, and Ianto was instantly disappointed, but at the same time he wanted to smirk at the wrecked look in Jack’s blue eyes.  He’d done that, to his very own mate, and he felt quite proud of himself.

“Yep,” he answered, smiling.  “It’s a very good kind of ruined.”

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

Toshiko was working, when she knew she should still be sleeping.

She couldn’t help it.  Whenever she tried to sleep, the idea that Jack and Ianto had actually stayed within the line of fire would come back to haunt her.  She’d also think of Kathy, her spouse doing her duty to the city of Cardiff, and being alone without her.

She had to do something.

And so, Toshiko found herself at the terminals she’d set up as Torchwood’s back-up Hub, doing everything she could think of to hack into the Thames House servers, knowing that they’d need whatever she’d found in order to counter whoever was determined to keep them out of the loop.

She was quite proud of the work she’d put in on this extension of the Hub.  It was in one of the smaller houses in the valley, one that hadn’t had any residents in it for years.  Behind the ancient stone façade of the two storey home was now a fully-equipped command centre, with server that was remotely connected to the mainframe back in Cardiff, a small armoury, and a medical bay where Owen had been busily setting up all of the equipment he’d brought with them.  She was now alone in the house; everyone else had taken rooms at the Green Dragon Inn, Rhiannon happy to have them all staying there once more.  It was almost like a reunion of the Resistance from that Year, although there was some missing, including Kathy, and a couple of new friends as well. 

She really missed Kathy.  It was one of the reasons she’d been unable to sleep all that well; she’d gotten used to not sleeping alone, and it was difficult to go back to that.  Certainly, there had been times when Kathy had had to work an overnight shift, but those were easy to weather when they were in the same city.

Toshiko sighed, rubbing her eyes.  She took a sip of the coffee she’d managed to scavenge, and she made a face when she realised it was ice cold.  There was a fully stocked kitchen in the house, but Toshiko didn’t want to get up and get anything.  She needed to be working, so that was what she was doing.

She really had no idea how long she’d been sitting there, threading her way through firewalls and defences that kept changing on her, but a fresh cup of coffee suddenly appeared on her desk.

Toshiko glanced up.  Patrick was standing there, smiling as he sipped his own coffee.  “It’s nowhere near as good as Ianto would make,” he apologised, “but sometimes you just need the caffeine.”

Patrick was right, but it worked.  “Thanks.”

The American pulled up a chair, settling in beside her.  “How’s it going?”

“This is so frustrating!” she exclaimed.  “Every time I think I’ve gotten somewhere, another thing pops up.  I can hack into anything, and this is getting to me.”

“Take a deep breath,” he suggested, taking her hand and spinning her around in her chair so she could look at him directly.  “You’re going to get this, okay?  I know you’re the best at this, and while I barely know the difference between a disc drive and Sunday drive around the park –“ Toshiko laughed at that – “it seems to me that you might be putting too much stress on yourself.  You’re overthinking things.  Just relax a second and take a step back, okay?”

He had a point.  Toshiko was so focussed on getting in, maybe she was trying too hard?  It was too important to slack on, but at the same time she couldn’t afford to mess anything up by rushing. 

So she inhaled, held in the breath, and then exhaled, wanting the tension to drain away.  It didn’t, but she did feel a little lighter.  “Alright.  I need to do this, but messing up is not an option either.  I can do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Patrick said.  “I have no doubt in you.  The others don’t either.  You just have to do what you’re best at, and don’t let it stress you.”  He squeezed her hands.  “Now, get back into the game, sister.  You can do this.”

“You know,” she said, turning back to her computers, feeling just a bit better than she had before, “you should really ask Alice out on a date.”

“Not you, too!” her friend sighed.  “I once got the shovel talk from Jack, and I haven’t even done anything yet!”

“He’s just letting you know that he approves of you,” Toshiko said, letting her fingers do what they needed to do while part of her attention was on Patrick.  “Ianto does, too.  And, if you want to go the easier route, ask Ianto for permission.  He’ll give it to you without all the drama that Jack would.  In fact, Kathy went to him to ask his permission to marry me.”

Patrick laughed.  “I would have loved to have seen that!”

“Kathy said she’d never been more nervous in her entire life.”

Toshiko and Patrick kept talking, keeping it light and sticking to subjects not having to do with what she was attempting to do.  Keeping part of her mind off her work and onto her teammate made things go quicker, and by the time she’d had a little progress the sun was just rising over the mountains.

She made a small, satisfied noise and sat forward, all conversation ceased.  “I think I might have something…”

Patrick didn’t say anything; he simply rubbed her shoulder in encouragement as Toshiko put another crack in a particularly difficult firewall.  She wondered vaguely if this was what the hackers who tried to get into mainframe felt, and she grinned knowing that she’d never allow anyone into her systems. 

The firewall shattered, and a few squirts of data flashed on her screen.  She leaned forward, pushing her glasses up onto her nose.  “Looks like the maintenance protocols,” she murmured, her fingers now flying over the keys.  She traced back through the programs she found herself in, sneaking past several internal firewalls that simply weren’t made to keep anyone out once they were inside.  She knew what she needed, and it would still take some time to find it.

Over the next hour, a plate of fruit and another cup of coffee ended up on her desk, and Toshiko made a mental note to thank Patrick once this was all done. 

“Wait,” Patrick suddenly said.  Toshiko automatically paused her scrolling.  “Can you go back a bit?”

She did, confused at what had caught his attention.

“There!”

Toshiko frowned.  She was looking at a single white page, empty except for four names…one of them being Jack.  “What is it?” she asked.

Patrick sighed.  “That’s a Blank Page order.”  Obviously seeing her look of confusion, he continued.  “A Blank Page is something used by the various intelligence agencies to order the termination of someone without putting a name on the actual order, that way no one has to take responsibility.”

Toshiko’s heart skipped a beat.  Someone wanted Jack dead?  “But how is that even possible?  They know he’s immortal; he can’t be killed…at least not for long.  What would be the sense?”

He looked very worried.  “Your guess is as good as mine, Tosh.  What about the other names on the order?  Can you track them down?”

“You bet I can.”  With those words, Toshiko began following the three other names on the Blank Page, now angrier than what she’d been when Jack and Ianto had talked her into leaving Cardiff.  Someone in their very own government wanted to hurt her family, and that was something she would not allow.

No one went after her family like that and got away with it.

She managed to bring up three pictures onto her screen.  “Says here, Colonel Michael Sanders was retired military, Ellen Hunt was a secretary with the Home Office, and Andrew Staines was a teacher from somewhere called Hollytree Lodge, in Scotland.”  Her brows furrowed.  “What do these three people have to do with Jack?”

Without waiting for Patrick to say anything, she dived back into the data that she now had access to, following these names deeper into the lines of code Toshiko was scanning.  She tracked each name, including Jack’s, back to an original file with an encryption that, after all the trouble she had getting into the system in the first place, only took her five minutes to crack.

What she saw there had her feeling slightly faint as all the blood ran from her face.

“Shit,” Patrick whispered from over her shoulder. 

“You’re not kidding,” Toshiko replied.  “We need to contact Jack and Ianto.”

She collapsed the windows she’d been working in, in order to bring up the connection to the Hub.  The subwave network – a gift from Harriet Jones before her unfortunate death – was the main communication line between this computer and the mainframe back in Cardiff.  Toshiko had had no problem converting it to a completely secure network and to set it up to link with the once-defunct Archangel Network…which then gave her an idea to on how to tighten up security on Torchwood’s comm system and mobiles.

Another window popped open, revealing the inside of the Hub from Toshiko’s own station.  The lighting was up, which gave her hope that Jack and Ianto would still be there.  Toshiko knew there would be a chime announcing an incoming signal, and she just had to wait for someone to hear and to show up on camera.

It was about a minute before Ianto appeared on her monitor.  To Toshiko’s surprise he was wearing a casual pullover and his hair was wet as if he’d just gotten out of the shower.  He smiled.  _“Toshiko!  Patrick!  So you’re both in Ddraig Llyn?”_

“We are,” Toshiko answered.  “I’ve finally managed to get into the MI5 servers.”

Something in her voice must have tipped him off that something was wrong, because he lost the smile immediately.  _“Let me get Jack.”_  

He stepped away from the camera, leaving Toshiko and Patrick to wait.

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

Jack was running a towel through his still-damp hair when Ianto stuck his head down the hole leading to his former bedroom.  “Toshiko’s found something,” the dragon said, sounding serious. 

He quickly slid his undershirt on, and then climbed out into his office, pulling his braces up as he followed Ianto toward Toshiko’s station.  On the large monitor at the workstation, Toshiko and Patrick were looking out at them, and he smiled when he saw them.  “Hey, kids!” he greeted them.  “I understand you’ve found something?”

Toshiko’s face looked pale, and she nodded _.  “I finally managed to get into the Thames House computer system, and I found several things you need to know.”_

This was serious, then.  Jack nodded.  “What did you find?”

When Toshiko went silent, Patrick stepped in.  _“Jack, MI5 has a Blank Page order out on you.”_

Jack frowned.  “Like that’s going to do them any good.”

_“Yeah, exactly.  Do you know anyone named Colonel Michael Sanders?  Ellen Hunt? Andrew Staines?”_

Jack wracked his brain.  “No, I don’t know anyone by those names.  Why do you ask?”

 “What else did you find?” Ianto prompted.

Toshiko paused. She looked very uncertain, but Patrick put a hand on her shoulder.  Jack was very glad that he was there with her, to support her.  _“They were named on the assassination order with you, Jack.”_

He was even more puzzled.  Why would his name be on that sort of order with three people he’d never even met?  “Have you found some sort of connection between us?”  He hoped so; this would give him a clue as to what was going on.

_“It seems the four of you had something to do with an alien race known as the 456,”_ Toshiko answered.

Jack felt something crumble within him.  He reached for the chair before he could collapse to the ground, and somehow he ended up seated.  The screen swam in his vision, and it was as if the world had come to a complete stop. 

“Jack?” Ianto asked, worry threaded through his name like filigree.  “What is it?  Let me get you a glass of water…”

Jack didn’t say anything, but his mate seemed to interpret his silence for agreement, and he headed toward the kitchen.  Jack turned to look at his technician and his weapons expert, and saw concern in both of their features. 

A glass of water appeared at Jack’s elbow, and he took it gratefully, sipping at it as he gathered his wits about him.  His past was coming back to haunt him yet again, but at least these people wouldn’t judge him despite his actions.

“We should get the rest of the team together,” he said, “I don’t want to tell this twice.”

_“Actually,”_ Patrick answered, _“Owen and Rhys just came in.”_ He made a gesture somewhere off screen, and the two men joined them.  _“We can tell the others, Jack.  Don’t worry about it, okay?”_

“Thank you, Patrick.”  He rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling ever year he’d lived.  “Ianto knows some of this already.”  He glanced up at his mate.  “I told you when the Fae came to take Jasmine away.”

Ianto’s brow furrowed for a moment, and then cleared as he apparently remembered that particular conversation.  Then he put his arm around Jack’s shoulders, comforting him immensely.   “At least we know now what the Fae meant when they said that you knew what was going on, but you didn’t remember it.”

That actually didn’t make Jack feel any better.

He gathered his courage around him, knowing this was going to be bad, even if his team wouldn’t condemn him for it.  “Back in 1965, I’d been with Torchwood for nearly a century.  I was getting really tired of living at that point, and I think it communicated itself to my superiors.  In fact, they thought I just didn’t care anymore, and I’m afraid I let them believe that.  It was easier than actually feeling anything.

“But, I’d met Alice’s mother earlier that year, and she was slowly bringing me out of my shell.  At that point I was really beginning to fall for her, and I was getting some of my life back.  Lucia was the one bright light in my life and even though we ended badly I’ll always be fond of her for that.

“We received a signal from space from a race that wouldn’t identify themselves, so we just called them the 456, after the wavelength they transmitted on.  They secretly negotiated a deal with the British government: the vaccine for a mutated version of the Indonesian Influenza that would have killed millions, for twelve children between the ages of five and eleven.  They promised that the children would not be harmed and that the 456 would then leave and never come back.

“Apparently the British government believed the aliens about the influenza, because they chose twelve children from a Scottish orphanage to give the 456, because they wouldn’t be missed.”

Jack took a deep breath, aware that his team was watching him, listening to him as he told this very shameful time in his personal history.  Ianto had curled closer to him, and he leaned into his mate’s warmth, craving the closeness and needing them all to understand what had really happened.

“Anyway,” he went on, taking a deep breath, “Torchwood wanted to be involved, and they insisted that one of their own operatives go on the exchange.  They chose me.”

He could hear Owen cursing over the subwave network, and from the timbre of the words Jack suddenly knew that yes, he really didn’t have anything to worry about from these people, his family. 

_“What did you do?”_ Toshiko asked softly.

“I tried to tell them that I didn’t want the assignment,” Jack answered.  “But they pointed out it was the lives of twelve compared to the lives of millions, and that how hard could it be?  They scoffed that I could actually care for twelve abandoned children and that if I didn’t go along with it, I would be responsible for an epidemic that would sweep the world and infect so many…I thought about Lucia, and how close we were getting, and how I would feel if she’d become a victim of this mutant influenza…and I finally agreed to do it.  Personally, I think they were testing my loyalty by asking me to do it, as well as thinking that I just really didn’t care.  Whatever it was…I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

_“Of course it matters!”_ Owen’s harsh voice came through the link.  _“Those bastards used you, Jack.  They manipulated your emotional state for their own bloody ends.  I doubt anyone could have stood up to that.”_

Jack’s tenseness faded even more.  His guilt was still very much present, but it was as if a weight was being lifted from him as he confessed to his team.

“That’s what I’ve tried to tell him,” Ianto said, wrapping his arms around Jack. 

_“What I don’t get,”_ Patrick said, _“is why this wasn’t familiar for you at all before Tosh got into MI5.”_

“That’s because the 456 didn’t speak through children before,” Jack said.  “They contacted the government directly.”

_“This is probably why all the kids were chanting in English,”_ Rhys pointed out.  _“These bastards dealt with the British Government.  Making the children speak English is a warning they’re coming back.”_

_“It’s also a terror tactic,”_ Patrick added.  _“Taking control of children and using them to deliver your message is a classic manoeuvre.  It’s done to throw adults off, because it’s hardwired into the majority of the human race to protect those unable to protect themselves.  You’re more likely do to what the hostage-takers want if a child is in danger.”_

“But the British government’s stance on terrorists is that we don’t negotiate with them,” Ianto pointed out. 

_“Which they completely failed at back in 1965,”_ Patrick pointed out.  _“Giving in once shows weakness…and of course these 456 came back because we were an easy target.  We’d given in to their demands before.”_

Jack knew Patrick was correct.  By handing over those twelve kids back in 1965, they’d opened up to further demands.  They still didn’t know what those demands were, however they’d been warned that the threat would be returning today.  “Toshiko, can you find out anything else about the 456’s plans?  We need to know what’s going to happen in order to counter it.”

Suddenly their perspective shifted; Jack found himself looking at his team from the side, and he realised Toshiko must have flipped the subwave connection to another screen, in order to do the search as Jack had asked.  _“Should be easy,”_ she answered.  _“Once I’d managed to get in, looking around is simple.  Their security is meant to keep people out; not to hide things once you have access.”_

From over his team’s shoulders Jack could tell that the door to the secondary Hub had opened, and while he couldn’t see who had entered he was willing to bet it was Alice and Deborah, judging from the reactions of everyone except for Toshiko, who was engrossed in what she was doing. 

The team made way, and Alice’s face appeared on the screen.  _“Hello, Dad…Tad,”_ she greeted them, smiling. 

“Hello, sweetheart,” Jack said warmly.  Ianto echoed him. 

_“Have we found out anything yet this morning?”_ she asked.

At that single sentence, Jack suddenly became very afraid.

How would Alice react to what Jack had done in the past?  Things were so good between them now, but how much would that change when she found out the truth?  Would she go back to hating him, and refuse to let him see Steven ever again?  Would she cut him out of her life as he if were some sort of cancer?  She still had such ambivalent feelings toward Torchwood in general; would this tip her back over into distrust?

Something in his face must have communicated itself through their communications link, because Alice frowned and asking, _“What’s wrong?”_

Before Jack could say anything, Patrick butted in.  _“Tosh’s managed to finally get into Thames House, and what we’ve found is pretty nasty.”_ With a small nod toward Jack, the weapons expert was pulling both Alice and Deborah away from the screen, and Jack can’t help but feel so very grateful at the moment for his teammate’s intervention.

_“Okay,”_ Toshiko said, _“it looks like the 456 have been sending transmissions…yeah, there are some schematics here that explains how to build an atmospheric tank, as well as a formula for the gasses that need to be piped inside.”_

Owen leaned forward, looking at the screen that Toshiko had up.  _“This combination would be lethal for humans, Jack.  These arseholes are definitely not oxygen breathers.”_

“Where are they building this tank, Tosh?” Ianto asked.  His arm was still around Jack, but the embrace was tighter, and Jack knew his mate was thinking about Alice’s reaction, as well.

_“Thames House…the thirteenth floor.”_

“Those idiots,” Jack swore.  “They’ve invited an alien race down, not knowing what they were going to demand, into a crowded office building in the middle of London?  If they were smart, they’d have done that somewhere out of the city and away from innocents.”

“Especially with a completely foreign atmosphere involved,” Ianto added.  “Owen, is the combination of gasses corrosive, explosive…?”

_“Just the nitrosyl chloride is dangerous enough.”_ Apparently he was getting confused looks at that, because Owen rolled his eyes.  _“Nitrosyl chloride is a compound made up of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.  It’s highly toxic.  We all know what hydrochloric acid will do…hm, hydrogen cyanide is deadly…and phosgene –“_

“That was used as a chemical weapon during World War I,” Jack said, angrily. 

_“It’s also currently used in pharmaceutical production,”_ Owen replied. 

_“And acetone is basically fingernail polish remover,”_ Rhys added. 

They all looked at him. “Is there something you should be telling us, Rhys?” Ianto teased.

Rhys looked affronted.  _“I like to be pretty as much as the next bloke,”_ he answered.   Then he laughed.  _“No, I know what it is because it was something I ran across at Harwood’s.  We had a contract with a local lab that used it to clean their equipment. I asked the guy who set up the contract what it was, and that’s what he told me.”_

“So yes…very dangerous,” Ianto said.

_“Yeah, especially when exposed to heat, when the various compounds start to break down,”_ Owen confirmed.  _“How stupid can they be, putting this out in the middle of a city?”_

“They’re not doing a lot of smart things at the moment,” Jack growled.  This was just getting worse and worse.  “It sounds like they’re going to be at least hosting one of these 456, and that’s just so wrong on so many levels.  You give these aliens a foothold and they’re going to get all the way into the door.  We don’t even know what they want yet, but I’m almost positive they’re after more children.”

“Jack’s right,” Ianto said.  “It has to be about the children.  Why else figure out a way to speak through them?  And we already know they’ve taken some before.”  His fingers squeezed Jack in support.  “We just have to find out exactly what they’re going to be demanding.”

_“I can get us into their security camera network,”_ Toshiko answered.  _“We can monitor the meeting that way.”_

“You are a star, Toshiko,” Jack said warmly.  “Are you sure you can do this without getting caught?”  The last thing he wanted to do was to expose his team to possible government retaliation. 

Toshiko looked at the screen, rolling her eyes.  _“Jack…”_

He held up his hand, laughing.  “Yes, yes…I know.  You’re the best.  I’m sorry I doubted you.”

_“You better be,”_ she mocked threatened, turning and going back to whatever she was doing.

Patrick rejoined the group, and he brought Deborah and Alice with him.  Jack’s only daughter looked at him through the screen, and she murmured, _“Are you okay, Dad?”_

Those four words broke something loose within Jack, and before he would even register it he felt dampness on his cheeks.  He couldn’t believe it; his daughter had heard the truth, and she was asking if _he_ was alright.  She wasn’t turning her back on him, nor was she condemning him for what he’d been forced to do in the past.  “I…I’m fine, sweetheart,” he answered, feeling choked up.  “I’m just fine, now.”

Ianto hugged him, and Alice gave Jack a fierce look.  _“I hate what they did to you, Dad, but I’m proud that you’ve taken their horror and made something good out of it.  We’re gonna stop them; don’t think we won’t.”_

“Thank you, Alice,” Ianto sighed. 

_“No need to thank me, Tad.  What was done was wrong, and I know we’ll make it right.”_

There were so many times when Jack had felt he was truly cursed; to be immortal, to lose everyone he would ever love to the ravages of time, and to know that he would have to walk through the universe until every star went out. 

But here and now, he had a family.  He had Alice and Steven, the family of his blood; and he had his team, his family of choice.  And he had Ianto, his beloved mate, the one who will talk down his long and once lonely path with him.  Their mating had bonded them for eternity, and that Ianto was willing to give that to him, was something that Jack had never once thought of having. 

Jack somehow felt as if he didn’t deserve all he had.  And Ianto would do everything in his power to disavow him of that particular notion.

“Toshiko,” Jack said, wiping a hand across his face, “I want you to keep monitoring things, and definitely keep an eye on Thames House.  We need to know exactly what we’re dealing with before Ianto and I head in.”

_“How are you going to get near Thames House with an assassination order out on you?”_ Patrick demanded.

Jack smiled.  “I bet they don’t look up…”

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

It was mid-afternoon when the children froze once more.

Toshiko had spent most of the afternoon on her computer, getting things ready to run surveillance on Thames House for the arrival for the 456, and finding out all sorts of interesting things, so she didn’t actually see what was going on outside the secondary Hub. 

However, she had a ringside seat for the party going on within Thames House.

A bright light suddenly filled the tank, highlighting the bluish gas that swirled within the hermetically sealed room.  Within seconds the tank was no longer empty; a shadow figure had appeared, and while Toshiko couldn’t get a good look at it, she could very easily tell it wasn’t human.  It seemed to have three heads, and was enormous, but beyond that the alien was obscured by the gas within the habitat.

She’d gotten lucky.  Whoever had prepared for the 456’s arrival had set up a separate camera, in order to transmit to Downing Street…at least, that’s to where Toshiko had traced the signal.  The camera was full colour and sound, several steps above the security cameras within the building.  It had taken almost no effort to piggyback her own signal onto the transmission and had very happily done so.

There was a man in the room when the aliens arrived, and Toshiko was willing to bet he was in on everything.  He simply stood in the middle of the cavernous room, staring as the glow faded from the tank, a creepy smile on his face.

Only moments later another man joined him; Toshiko recognised John Frobisher from files she’d managed to get into.  So, this was the man that both Jack and Ianto didn’t like dealing with at the Home Office?  He certainly didn’t seem much to her; an older man, slightly rabbity-looking, wearing glasses and a suit that Ianto would most likely disapprove of.   

She toggled up the Hub connection, knowing that both Jack and Ianto would be waiting there for some sort of word.  Within instants Ianto was there. _“What’s up, Tosh?”_

“Our alien has just arrived.”

_“Not surprised.  It’s all over the news that the children have stopped and have started pointing toward London.”_

_“They’ve also said ‘We are here’,”_ Jack added, sliding into frame. 

“Looks like Frobisher is there already,” she went on.  A few keystrokes had the same view showing up at the Hub. 

_“What the hell is that?”_ Ianto asked softly.  In one screen she could see him leaning forward, and she knew that he was trying to see through the gas and to get a look at what was inside.

There was a sudden spitting, hissing noise and something thrashed within the fog.  Frobisher, who had taken a cautious step forward, stopped and looked very uncertain about the whole thing.

Toshiko couldn’t blame him.

_“Speak.”_

The voice was synthesised, but there was a creepy undertone in it that made Toshiko shiver.  She suddenly wished she wasn’t alone, even though she was miles from Thames House, and she toggled her comm on and called for the team, telling herself that they needed to see this as well. 

On the screen, Frobisher stepped forward once more.  He looked nervous, which Toshiko thought was very intelligent of him.  _“I am John Frobisher, Permanent Secretary to the Home Office of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.  On behalf of the Human race –“_

The alien within the tank suddenly slammed against the reinforced glass, and Toshiko actually jumped, she was so startled.  From what she could tell the skin of the 456 was slimy and a brownish colour. 

Then it spewed some sort of liquid, and Toshiko involuntarily gagged a little.

“What the fuck is that?” Owen’s voice exclaimed, disgust in his tone.

“That,” Toshiko answered, “is the 456.”

“That is truly gross,” Patrick replied as he sat down next to her. 

“You’re not kidding, mate,” Rhys added, joining them.

_“Is there something wrong?”_ Frobisher asked, a slight quaver in his tone.

Toshiko thought the whole situation was completely wrong, but didn’t say anything aloud.

There was no response, just the greenish liquid, dripping down the glass.

_“Should I continue?”_ Frobisher went on.

A deep growling echoed from the sound system set up in the room.

_“Then,”_ Frobisher went on, and Toshiko could actually hear him swallow, _“for communication purposes, we have no name for your species.  What are you called?”_

_“You call us the 456.”_

_“That’s correct.”_

_“Then that is our name.”_ If a synthesised voice could sound smug, this one did.

“That’s not bloody helpful,” Owen muttered.

“I don’t think they much care,” Alice spoke up.  There was a horrified sort of awe in the words, and Toshiko could imagine what her expression looked like just from that.

_“Then,”_ Frobisher continued, sounding a bit more certain of himself, _“I must ask, on behalf of my government, what is it you want?”_

There was no response, except for more hissing and what seemed to be a slapping noise, as if skin was hitting something hard.

_“Can you hear me?”_ Frobisher asked.  _“I’m sorry, but before I go to my supervisors, I need to know what you want.”_

There was more growling, but no response at all.

“It’s another tactic,” Patrick said, “in order to throw Frobisher off balance.   String it out long enough and make him nervous.”

_“I must ask,”_ Frobisher said again, this time sounding a bit frustrated, _“what is your official reason for visiting…”_

_“Speak,”_ was the only thing the 456 said.

While she couldn’t see it, Toshiko knew that Frobisher must have been rolling his eyes at that moment.  _“I_ am _speaking,”_ he said, the frustration more evident.

“Yeah, it’s playing dumb,” Patrick added. 

If anyone should know it would have been Patrick.  Toshiko knew he’d been acquainted with a couple of profilers when he’d been with the FBI, and he’d also done a little studying on the subject.  It brought up memories of Gwen, when she’d tried to profile that girl, Carys, who’d been possessed by that sex gas.  It hadn’t worked well, and Toshiko had been the one to have discovered that Carys had had an ex-boyfriend who the poor girl had gone after and that she’d worked at that sperm bank. 

At least Patrick knew what he was doing.

_“We would speak,”_ the 456 went on.

_“With who?”_ Frobisher asked.

_“The world,”_ it said, accompanied by a loud noise that almost made Toshiko laugh.

“That was a bit rude,” Deborah joked. 

“Aliens must not have the same manners we do,” Patrick answered.

They were making light of the situation, but Toshiko knew them…knew that this was simply one of the ways their team dealt with stress.  Still, it was all she could do not to snort at Deborah’s comment.

_“Why?”_ Frobisher demanded, for the first time since the 456 had appeared sounding sharp.

_“We would speak,”_ the 456 said once more.

_“Well, perhaps we do things here differently.”_

That was when Toshiko realised that the alien wasn’t about to get that sort of exposure; that this was the reason for the British government had tried to cover things up.  Of course Frobisher knew about what had happened back in 1965, and there was no way he was about to let that knowledge become widespread.  It was the reason for the Blank Page order: to get rid of the only people who knew what had really happened that night in Scotland. 

“Yeah,” Owen said, “that’s not gonna happen.” 

“That’s what I was just thinking,” she murmured.

_“But,”_ Frobisher went one, _“we would consider this a diplomatic liaison.  Does that make sense?  We are both, in a sense, ambassadors.  And according to ambassadorial protocol, negotiations are not made public.  You wouldn’t be speaking to the people, but to their elected representatives.  That...that’s how it works.  That’s all I can offer.  Is that acceptable?”_

“Can you say ‘cover up’?” Patrick snarked.

_“Yes,”_ the 456 answered. _“Bring them.”_

_“Good. Thank you.”_ Frobisher shuffled a bit closer, almost up to the glass.  _“I have one condition.  Do you understand that?  A condition?”_

There was no answer, and Frobisher seemed to take that as assent. 

_“The 456 have made contact with this country before,”_ he went on.  “ _It would be better if…well, given the nature of that meeting…it would ensure the smooth running of diplomatic relations with the 456 if that previous meeting was kept off the record.  By off the record, I mean private.  Between us.  Can you do that?”_

_“Yes.”_

“Oh yeah…cover up.”

“Yeah, okay…we knew you were right,” Owen growled.  “You don’t have to keep mentioning it, Delaware.”

_“Thank you,”_ Frobisher acknowledged. 

_“Soon.”_

_“What?”_ Frobisher was confused.

_“Return soon.”_

_“I will.  Thank you.”_

With those parting words, both Frobisher and the man who had been silent all throughout the meeting left the room.

“It’s all kicking off now,” Toshiko murmured.  She brought up the window with Jack and Ianto on it while minimising the screen with the 456 on it. 

_“Yes it is,”_ Jack agreed. 

“Have you ever seen these aliens before?”  Deborah asked,

Jack shook his head.  _“No.  They’re completely new to me.  I was hoping if I got a good look at them…”_

“Not easy to see anything in that mess,” Owen pointed out.

_“Ianto and I will be going to London,”_ Jack said, _“but I’m hoping for more information.  Toshiko, keep up the good work and let us know when you have more.”_

“I will, Jack,” she promised.  “I’m currently linked into Frobisher’s personal system and I’m hoping he starts organising.  If he’s going to get representatives from all over the world to meet with the 456 then that’s going to take some planning.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder; it was Owen, and she turned back to see him nodding.  Toshiko turned back to the screen.  “Personally Jack…I don’t see how he’s going to do it.”

_“I agree,”_ Jack said.  _“I also don’t see the governments of the world giving in to whatever demands the 456 are going to make.  We might have given in once, but now…not in this day and age.  It’s not that long since 9/11 for the US so that makes it double for them.”_ He chuckled.  _“Besides, I doubt the United States government will be happy that, once again, Great Britain has a first-contact scenario that they didn’t tell anyone about.  That’s gonna go over really well.”_

“Considering the last one got President Winters assassinated,” Patrick sighed.

“And the rest of the world almost destroyed,” Alice added.

“Makes me glad I wasn’t around for that,” Rhys said.

“You and me both, brother,” Patrick replied.

_“Can we keep the feed up here for Thames House?”_ Ianto asked.

“That’s not a problem,” Toshiko replied.  “But if you accidentally close out the window, I’ll need to connect you again.”

_“Great,”_ the dragon said.  _“I want to keep half an eye on what’s going on there.  Also, Jack and I are going to go back and interrogate our prisoners –“_

“Prisoners?” Owen demanded.  “You’re not going around and picking up strays, are you?”

Ianto rolled his eyes.  _“We went ahead and took out the surveillance truck, which hopefully has cleared up the mobile lines, but I don’t think we want to risk that right now.”_

“I thought you were going to leave it alone,” Patrick said almost accusingly.

_“We were,”_ Jack answered, _“but Kathy called us and let us know that she had a visit from an MI5 agent who tried to pin Gray’s terrorist attacks on us.  Kathy had her arrested, of course, once she brought out the photograph of her spouse.”_

_“That tipped the decision over to shutting down the surveillance,”_ Ianto continued.  _“We had Kathy tow the van up to the impound to keep for us.”_

_“That was, of course, after Ianto sat on it and it became undriveable,”_ Jack said teasingly.

Ianto turned toward his mate.  _“Are you saying I’m overweight?”_ he asked primly.

“Wouldn’t answer that if I was you, Harkness,” Owen warned.  “You just can’t tell the missus that she’s fat.”

The dragon glared through the screen.  _“You do know I have a nice selection of cheap instant decaf, right?”_

The entire team laughed at the traded insults.  Toshiko couldn’t help but join them.  It was so good to have them all in such a light mood, especially with what was going on around them.  She knew it wouldn’t last long, but for now it was as if nothing was wrong, that the team wasn’t divided and that Jack and Ianto weren’t intending on stepping into the lion’s den tomorrow.  For now, she could pretend everything was fine.

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

_“Hello?”_

Ianto couldn’t help but grin.  “Hello, Nightingale.”

Martha Jones laughed at the other end of the line.  _“Hello, Dragon.  Are you all at least trying to stay out of trouble?”_

“Trying…but you know trouble follows us around like particularly hungry carrion birds.”

_“Now that’s not a pretty image.”_

“But true, nonetheless.”  He leaned back in Jack’s chair, looking out of the glass toward the main Hub, where Jack was seated at Toshiko’s workstation.  From what he could see his mate was speaking with someone over the subwave network. 

The dragon felt more comfortable with the mobiles now that the surveillance van had been taken out of play and was sitting in the Cardiff police impound  lot, but he still used Jack’s landline to make what calls he needed.  He knew that Toshiko would be able to make their phones more secure in the future, but that would have to wait until this mess was over.

_“I’ve been poking my nose around UNIT,”_ Martha said, _“but things are buttoned up tight.  Not even my clearance will get anywhere.  I know this is fallout from me overseeing the dismantling of the Osterhagen bombs on the Doctor’s orders; UNIT just doesn’t trust me at the moment.  I’m sorry, but I can’t find out anything.”_ She sounded frustrated, and Ianto couldn’t blame her.

“Well, we have some news I’m willing to share.”  He explained to her what Toshiko had found on MI5’s computer network, leaving out certain things such as Jack’s involvement.  While he knew Martha would understand completely why his mate had done what he’d done, he didn’t really want to share that over the phone, not even one as secure as Toshiko promised.  “We really don’t know what they’re after yet,” he finished, “but you can bet it has to do with the children.”

_“Exactly,”_ Martha said, outraged.  _“I can’t believe our government thought that just handing children over to an alien race and then trusting them not to come back was a really good idea.”_

“Well, it happened.  Now we have to deal with the consequences.”

_“Whatever you need, Ianto.  Me and Tom are ready and willing to help, you just need to ask. The End of the World Survivors Club needs to stick together.”_

Ianto felt a warm glow fill him at her offer.  They’d all been through so much together, and that meant for something.  “Jack and I are coming to London, most likely early tomorrow.  I know Jack wants to face the 456, and we also need to make sure the Prime Minister understands what he’s risking by giving in to whatever demands the 456 make.”

_“I really don’t think our government would give in…do you?”_

Ianto sighed.  “I really don’t know, Martha.  Everything the 456 has done so far leans toward sowing fear into the populace.  When everyone is afraid, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

_“Well, you and Jack are welcome to use our place as your headquarters while you’re in London.”_

“We wouldn’t want to put you in danger by us being there…”  Honestly, Ianto had been about to ask for place to stay during this crisis, and he was going to give her as much leeway to back out of the offer.

_“Like we haven’t been in trouble before!”_

She had a point.  Still...she and Tom were also a part of their family, and both he and Jack didn’t want anyone hurt because of them.  “If you’re sure…”

_“Of course I’m sure!  You and Jack are staying with us and I won’t hear any argument, got it Mr Dragon?”_

Ianto couldn’t help but laugh.  “Got it, Mrs Nightingale.  Far be it from me to say no to the co-saviour of the planet.”

_“Damn right!”_

This was why Ianto loved Martha so much…she was willing to help no matter what and had absolutely no reservations about possible risk.  “We’re hoping for more information before we leave, and Toshiko seems to be on track.  We really want to listen in on the first official meeting with the 456.  That will determine what they’re here for.  Once we know that, we’ll have leverage, especially since it has to do with the children.”

_“Do you think they’ll listen?”_

That was Ianto’s major worry: that no one would listen when it came to telling them that doing anything with any child would be a really bad idea.  To be honest, he was surprised that it hadn’t happened already back during the original transaction, since the very definition of Chosen One meant a child that had been abandoned…and that was exactly what an orphan was. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted.  “But I have to try.”

_“When do you think you and Jack will be here?”_

“In the morning sometime, but until we know more we can’t really plan too much.”

_“I understand.  Give us a call when you’re on the road.”_

Ianto smirked, even though he knew Martha wouldn’t see it.  “Who said anything about driving?”

Martha laughed.  _“Okay, then call us when you’re in the sky.”_

“Will do.”  Ianto glanced toward Jack again, and he caught his mate’s eyes.  Jack nodded slightly, a signal if Ianto ever so one.   “Looks like Jack might have something.  I’ll let you go and give you a ring when we leave Cardiff.”

_“Sounds like a plan.  We’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”_

“See you then.”  Ianto hung up, then rose from behind Jack’s desk and headed out into the Hub. 

Jack watched him approach, and Ianto went right into Jack’s embrace, leaning against his mate as he turned toward the screen.  The main screen showed the feed from Thames House; apparently nothing was going on there, except for the movements of the alien in its gas-filled tank. 

Another screen was the subwave connection to Ddraig Llyn, where Owen was speaking to someone off camera; from the few words he could hear, Ianto guessed it was Toshiko.  “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Owen may have found a part of the puzzle as to how the 456 have taken control of the children,” Jack explained.

The medic turned toward the screen.  _“Yeah, cause I’m just that good.  I even did it without the good coffee.”_

Ianto rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, no false modesty there.”

_“Excuse me, but when you’re a medical genius there’s no room for modesty.”_

“So, tell us, oh genius,” Ianto intoned in a self-important tone, “what wonders have you discovered?”

Owen simply snorted.  _“During the last round of chanting I had a handful of kids wearing a portable EEG rig that Tosh helped me put together, and what I found explains why I didn’t pick up anything in Steven’s blood when I tested it.”_

“So it’s linked to the children’s’ brains?” Jack asked.

_“Seems to be.  I found that, during the time that the kids are chanting, theta wave activity goes up while normal brain activity is slightly supressed.  What this means is, whatever the hell this is, it’s pretty much forcing the kids into sleep…almost in a dream-like state.  It explains why they don’t remember chanting, because they’re basically asleep.”_

“But why is it just the children?” Ianto asked.

_“Because theta wave activity is more prevalent in pre-pubescent kids anyway.  These aliens are just using what the kids already have.”_ Owen looked angry.  Ianto knew how he felt.  _“Plus I’m pretty certain it’ll all eventually link up to hormone activity.  The age range of kids affected makes that a forgone conclusion, even if I haven’t really seen any proof of that yet.”_ The moment Owen went into lecture mode was obvious, Ianto having seen it so many times before.   _“Hormones regulate the body, which I’m sure Harkness knows all about.”_

Jack didn’t answer; he simply smiled widely and held Ianto tighter.

_“There are different levels of them at various times in the human lifespan.  At this point, these kids haven’t been flooded with the hormones responsible for kicking them into puberty.  I’m pretty certain that’s whatever the hell these alien are using to find the children has to do with that.  Hormones also change brainwave activity, so they’d be out of luck with anyone older or younger than the target demographic.  These bastards know exactly what to look for and how to take over the kids.”_

Ianto felt Jack stiffen against him, and the dragon automatically knew that he was once again feeling guilty about what he’d done back in 1965.  He wanted to tell his mate that there had been no way he could have known that the 456 would use the children they’d been given to study the human race and to learn how to target a specific age group.  “What about how this signal is transmitted?” he asked, cutting off whatever Jack might have said.

From the look on Owen’s face, the medic had guessed exactly what Ianto was doing and approved of it.  _“Toshiko has a theory about that.”_ He looked off-screen, and Toshiko joined him in the camera’s range.

_“I think they’re using the same signal they’ve been using to communicate with the British government,”_ she answered. 

“The 456 wavelength?” Jack confirmed.

_“Yes.  If there’s another round of chanting, I’m hoping to prove my theory correct.”_

For the first time since this all began, Ianto finally felt real hope.  “Would you be able to set something up to block it?”

Toshiko chewed her lip.  _“I don’t know,”_ she confessed.  _“Like I said…this is all theory at this point.  But Ianto, this is affecting the entire world.  I might be able to rig up something for a small area, but I just don’t have the equipment to blanket the planet with a blocker for a signal we don’t even know exists yet.”_

“Just do your best,” Jack encouraged.  “You always do.”

_“Jack, there’s something else.”_

There was something in her voice that made Ianto think things were about to get worse.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

_“I did some digging around in UNIT’s systems before Owen called you, and I…I think they’re in on it up to their eyebrows.”_

Jack tensed once again, and Ianto tightened his arm around his mate.  “What did you find?” the dragon asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.  Yes, their relationship with UNIT had been competitive at best, antagonistic at worst, with Jack’s having been a Companion the only reason they got any respect at all.  Colonel Mace had been the only one to get along with them, and with him out of the action…well, there was Sir Alistair, but with him being retired he didn’t have any more power over the organization he once helped create.

_“I found several files regarding the 456 on UNIT’s servers,”_ she reported.  _“And Colonel Oduya’s schedule has him at both 10 Downing Street and Thames House for the next couple of days.”_

“That doesn’t necessarily prove anything,” Jack pointed out.   “Of course he’d be on the ground floor of any alien visitation in the UK.”

Toshiko looked uncertain.  _“But why haven’t they contacted Torchwood?  Sure, we don’t necessarily get along, but they also know we’re damned good at our jobs.  And you’ve had all sorts of problems getting in touch with them.”_

She had a point.  Torchwood and UNIT were like oil and water, but they had worked together in the past.  And something this big…Ianto really didn’t want to consider that they had no allies at all, and were surrounded on all sides by groups who wanted them out of the way.  “Did you find anything else?” he asked gently.

_“Yes.  They have warrants out for any member of Torchwood they see,”_ she added.  _“Jack’s is dead or alive, but for the rest of us it’s alive unless there’s no other option.”_ She swallowed.  _“They’re also after us, at the request of the British government.  Colonel Oduya signed the order himself.”_

“Damnit,” Jack muttered. 

Ianto felt the same way.  Whatever hope he’d been feeling was quashed mercilessly with the knowledge that UNIT was on the hunt for them as well. 

“I’m going to call Sir Alistair,” Jack said, releasing his grasp on Ianto and getting up out of the chair.  “I know he can’t do anything, but I don’t want him stumbling into our shit by asking questions of the wrong person.”  He headed up toward his office, leaving Ianto alone, with only Toshiko and Owen on the computer. 

_“This sucks,”_ Owen growled.  _“I don’t get it, Dragon Boy…I know UNIT’s not a pal, but why completely turn against us?”_

Ianto slid into the chair Jack had vacated; it was still warm from Jack’s body and he relaxed into it.  “There’s always been a rivalry, you know that.  But we’ve always been on the same side.  And it’s not like UNIT was even around when the 456 had come the first time; they hadn’t been chartered until the late 60’s.  They have absolutely nothing to lose by not going along with the government.”

He glanced up into Jack’s office.  His mate was seated in his chair, desk phone up to his ear, and Ianto knew he was speaking with the Brigadier.  While UNIT might not appreciate Torchwood, Sir Alistair respected Jack, and would be angry when he found out that UNIT might be aiding and abetting a possible alien incursion.

Well, UNIT hadn’t exactly been the good guys during that Year, either.

Wait a second…

“Toshiko,” Ianto said urgently, “you said you didn’t think you could block this signal if we could find it, right?”

The technician shook her head.  _“There’s no way to make any blocker strong enough to encompass the entire planet.”_

“But what if you used what was left of the Archangel Network?”

Ianto watched Toshiko’s face go thoughtful as she considered his suggestion.  She then turned away and he could hear the sound of her fingers dancing across her keyboard. 

Then she smiled. 

_“The satellites are still there, and I’ve been using limited connectivity to run the subwave network,”_ she replied.  _“No one thought they’d still be dangerous after the Doctor shut them down.”_ Then she frowned.  _“I can get them back online all the way…but Ianto, I couldn’t hack them during the Year.  I’m not sure I can do it now.”_

“Just see what you can do,” he urged.  “Right now, they’re our only hope if we can get that signal traced.”

She nodded.  _“I’ll give it my best shot,”_ Toshiko vowed.  

“I know you will,” he said warmly.  He had every faith in her to get what needed to be done, done. 

All they could do now was wait.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

 _“My contacts have been stubbornly quiet, Captain,”_ Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart’s voice boomed from the phone’s handset.  No matter how old he got, Sir Alistair still had that order-barking tone that always had Jack standing to attention, even when he was sitting down.

“That’s why I’m calling, Sir Alistair,” Jack said.  “I wanted to ask you to stop asking around.”

 _“If there’s something going on, we need to know it!”_ the Brigadier exclaimed, sounding confused.

“Yes, I know.  But my technician has found evidence that UNIT might be involved deeper than we previously thought.”  He explained what Toshiko had found. 

Anyone else would have cursed at this, but not Sir Alistair.  Instead, the old soldier said, _“I think, perhaps I might go and have tea with Her Majesty.  It’s way overdue.”_

Jack wanted to laugh.  Trust Sir Alistair to find a way to help that wouldn’t put him in too much danger.  Besides, Jack himself hadn’t been able to reach the Queen; perhaps a frontal assault would do the job?  “Please give Her Majesty my regards.”

_“I shall.  Thank you for the call, Captain.  I shall hopefully see you soon.”_

Jack rang off, grateful for the Brigadier’s support.  While he’d never really gotten along with most of the idiots at UNIT – Colonel Mace being the exception, more than the rule – Sir Alistair had respected Jack pretty much from the beginning.  He’d been the one to contact Jack and Ianto to let them know about Toshiko, and Jack would forever be grateful just for that. 

Jack left his office, spying Ianto up by the coffee machine.  He headed over, and wrapped his arms around his mate from behind, resting his chin on the dragon’s shoulder.  “I’m so glad you’re making coffee.  I would murder a cup.”

Ianto chuckled, and Jack could feel it through his chest.  “You’re not the only one.  How did it go with Sir Alistair?”

Jack explained what the Brigadier had said, and what he was going to do.  “We can’t get a phone connection with Lizzie, so I’m hoping Sir Alistair can.  They’re good friends, after all.  Hopefully anyone keeping her in the dark won’t stop him from getting in just on that alone.”

“I know we were going to, but do you really think it’ll do any good questioning our MI5 guests?”

He sighed.  “No, not really.  I doubt they know all that much, now that I’ve thought about it.  But I do think we should transfer them into Kathy’s care before we head into London.  I don’t want to leave them here while we’re gone simply because we don’t know how long we’ll be gone.  The last thing we need is to come back here and find them dead because we weren’t here to feed them.”

Ianto nodded.  “I agree.  Plus I’m certain they’re missing their friend.”  There was a teasing note in his mate’s voice that made Jack smile. 

He watched as Ianto’s slender fingers worked the coffee machine, moving in their patterns over the knobs until the coffee was done.  He poured two cups, and while Jack really wanted his he didn’t want to let go.  He burrowed his face into Ianto’s neck, breathing in his mate.  Ianto smelt the same as always: of old paper and coffee, but it wasn’t until their true mating did Jack notice the extremely faint undertones of earth and sky, of rain and smoke that was the dragon under the suits and human form that Ianto cultivated.  When Ianto was the dragon, those scents were more powerful, and it was the single sign that his mate was far more than anyone would ever guess.

“Are you alright?” Ianto asked softly, resting his hand on Jack’s clasped ones over his waist.

Jack lifted his head.  “These last days have been hell, but you’ve been my rock and I cannot express just how much I love you for it.”

“You are my eternity, Jack,” his mate whispered.  “I will always be there for you, for as long as we both shall live.”  

“I can’t believe how much of my past you’ve accepted and it hasn’t stopped you believing in me.”

“I doubt there’s anything that you could do that would shake that belief.  I sang the Commitment Song and made my vows to you, and I flew the mating flight with you.  I will love you until the Sun goes out and the Earth is long dead and dust.”

Jack couldn’t express just what this meant to him.  He’d never thought that he’d find this sort of love, that he would always lose those closest to him.  Having Ianto as his mate meant that would never happen, that he would spend their eternities together. 

He didn’t kid himself into thinking that they’d never disagree, and that they’d even have fights, but Jack knew that these wouldn’t tear them apart.  The Great Dragons has meant for them to be together for as long as Ianto was alive – and it didn’t change anything knowing just how they’d accomplished that – and Jack would never disagree with their decision. 

Gently, he turned Ianto until he was facing him, and Jack leaned forward, kissing his mate quietly, but with a passion that he’d never felt for anyone else, the warmth of his mate’s lips feeling perfect.  They simply stood there, kissing softly, reaffirming their connection through that simple touch. 

Jack lost track of time as they stood there.  The world could have ended around them and he would never have noticed, so focussed was he on this wonderful person held in his arms.  Jack felt complete, as if he had been missing this his entire life and he hadn’t even realised it until he’d met Ianto.  Yes, he’d fought against the pull, but in the end the dragon calling himself Ianto Jones had proved irresistible.  What would Jack have done if he’d lost Ianto, back nearly two years ago when his actions had broken his beautiful dragon’s trust in him?  He couldn’t even consider it.

Eventually they pulled apart, and Jack wanted to keep the look on Ianto’s face in his heart forever.  His mate was so very beautiful, lips red and kiss swollen, his eyes changed into their dragon aspect but holding a sparkle that, to Jack, was brighter than the stars themselves. 

He may have once wanted to return to those self-same stars, but Jack had found his home in Cardiff, and in a secluded valley to the north with a creature from legend.

It was funny how things could turn out, especially for a boy born on a frontier world in the far future.

“I’m certain the coffee is cold by now,” Ianto murmured, his eyes slowly changing back to their human blue.

“I don’t care,” Jack answered.  He leaned back in, and the coffee was completely forgotten.

 

**********

 

Alice sat on a large rock, looking out over the peaceful waters of Ddraig Llyn, lost in thought.

She’d learned a lot about her father in the last day, and yet surprisingly she couldn’t hold the past against him.  Patrick had explained what Torchwood had forced him to do, and while it made her hate the organisation even more than before, she simply couldn’t hate Jack. 

Her mother had railed against both Torchwood and Jack Harkness, and while she’d been perfectly correct about Torchwood Alice had learned that her mother had been wrong in so many ways about Jack.  She wasn’t naïve and knew her dad had done things that she’d never agree with, but Alice was discovering that most of those times he just hadn’t had a choice.  And, to now find out that they’d actually held her mother’s health over his head, in the beginning of their relationship…it made Alice wonder just what her father would give up for her and Steven. 

It was an almost frightening thought that her own father could love that much that he would do anything for those he cared the most about.   That sort of commitment went against what her mother had told her about her dad, and it hurt in a way that she’d not known that about the man she’d once married.

There were times when Alice wished her mother was still alive, so she could be shown this side of Jack that she’d obviously never known existed.  Although she wasn’t sure her mum would actually want to know that he’d given away twelve children in order to protect her…

A loud cry echoed across the valley, and Alice looked up to see Myfanwy, her dad and tad’s pteranodon, circling high on the wind currents over the lake, and she couldn’t help but smile.  Her dad was fond of saying that capturing her had been his and Ianto’s first date, which made an odd sort of sense given the strangeness they dealt with every day.  The pteranodon suddenly dove downward, and her beak skimmed the surface of the lake; when she rose once more, it was with a large fish held triumphantly in her mouth. 

“She’s really kinda amazing.”

Alice didn’t startle at the unexpected voice.  “Yes, she is,” she agreed, turning to look over her shoulder at Patrick.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” he said, his body language suddenly awkward.  Alice had never really seen this in him, and it was endearing.  Patrick Delaware was confident and self-assured, and this was a part of him Alice hadn’t thought existed.

“It’s fine,” she said, motioning him to join her.  “Just getting a bit of peace before it goes to hell again.”

“Which it will,” he agreed, coming to sit next to her on her rock.  He looked out over the lake with her, a slight smile on his face.  “You know, before I came to Cardiff I had no idea places like this existed.  Hell, I didn’t even believe in magic, but here…you can feel it, can’t you?  The timelessness and the magic that lives here?”

“Yes, I know.”  She leaned back on her hands, letting the sun warm her face.  “The first time I came here, I only got to enjoy it for not even a day before disaster happened.  Then the valley became a refuge from the Master.”

“I can’t even imagine it,” Patrick murmured.  “I know I did things in that Year, but I…just don’t want to know.” He chuckled weakly.  “I have enough nightmares as it is.”

Alice glanced over, to see him looking at her.  For some reason she blushed slightly, and then blamed the sun.  “It truly was hell, Patrick, and I hope you never have to deal with anything like it.  But, at the same time, so many friendships were made here…and we’re all a family because of it.”   He was sitting close enough for her to swing her foot over and prod his calf.  “You’re a part of that now too, you know.”

“Yep.”  He turned away, back toward the lake.  “It’s so weird…I came here because my granddad Canton thought this would be a good opportunity for me, and I ended up a part of something I hadn’t even known existed.  My entire family says I’ve changed, but I can’t see it.”

“Well, not having known you before Torchwood, I wouldn’t honestly know, but I like the person you are.”

Was he actually blushing?  Alice didn’t feel alone in her embarrassment, which was good to know.

“Thanks,” he said softly. 

They sat there in silence for a while, watching the sun heading toward twilight.  It was a peaceful, comfortable silence, and Alice found herself enjoying it. 

A couple of minutes later it hit her…she was comfortable in Patrick Delaware’s company.

She found herself doing something she didn’t think she would _ever_ do…she actually _looked_ at him, out of the corner of her eye, simply taking her time to consider her companion.  She took in the receding hairline, the dark eyes, the small scar on his chin.  His clothes were a bit baggy, and they hid what she knew was a body that he kept in shape against what he’d called the “Delaware spread”.  He wasn’t conventionally handsome; in fact, under certain circumstances he would have been completely unobtrusive, which he claimed to have inherited from the Coulson side of his family.  But now, with him totally relaxed, Alice could see that he was, in fact, quite easy on the eyes.

There were things she didn’t quite like about him, like his love affair with guns and the fact that he used ketchup with his fish and chips, but maybe she could live with them.

“You should ask my tad for permission to court me,” she said, before she even realised she was speaking.

Patrick promptly choked. 

“Excuse me,” he finally said, just when Alice was convinced he wasn’t going to respond, “did you just say I should ask your tad for permission to court you?”

“I would say ask Dad,” she answered blandly, trying to keep the grin off her face at his expression of bewilderment, “but Tad is much more old fashioned and would understand the sentiment behind it.”

“And if he eats me?” Patrick asked, his voice suddenly light and teasing.

The grin couldn’t be held back any longer.  “I’m sure you’ll taste quite nice.”

Patrick laughed.  “If that was a euphemism, then the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Oh god,” Alice groaned, face planting into her palm.   “I’ve become my dad.”

His laughter went louder, and he leaned far enough over to bump her shoulder with his own.  “It was bound to happen eventually.  It’s in the genes…you know, like male pattern baldness.”  He ran his fingers through his own thinning hair.

“If you can deal with me being my dad, I can handle you becoming yours.”

“Then I guess this means, after we’re done with all the crap going on at the moment, I should ask your tad about this whole dating thing, since you’re willing to put up with me leaving hairs in the shower.”

“Oh no,” Alice said, waggling her finger at him, “you’re cleaning the drain when you’re done.”

Patrick’s eyes turned serious.  “Does this mean we might get to the part where I actually use your shower some time?”

She regarded him closely.  There were questions in his eyes, and he looked hopeful.  “Maybe,” she answered coyly, “if you play your cards right.”

“Oh, that’s alright then,” Patrick said, relaxing.  “I definitely know how to play all sorts of card games.”

Alice smacked him in the shoulder.  Just because she could.

 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**_17 September 2009_ **

 

Toshiko lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes, tired after spending so much time in front of her monitors.  Usually she took some sort of break, but today it seemed as if every time she thought about it, something happened.

From her surveillance, she could see that John Frobisher had been busy.  There had been communications between various governments, many of them very strongly bothered by the fact that there was an alien ambassador on British soil, in direct contradiction to several United Nations statutes.  There had also been an itinerary for an American general coming to sit in on the negotiations, as well as a couple of others who would be able to arrive in time to meet with the 456.  There were also a couple of governments who seemed to simply ignore Frobisher, as well as many that didn’t receive anything. 

It seemed very slap-dash to her, and a part of Toshiko was amused by it.

UNIT activity had also gone up.  There had been orders for troop movements across the globe, and Toshiko couldn’t make heads nor tails over them, not being a tactician like Jack or Patrick.  She flagged them for Jack, who promptly came to the conclusion that they were preparing for something, most likely some sort of invasion.

Knowing what they did about the 456, that made a certain sense.

There had also been a second camera set up on the thirteenth floor of Thames House, which she promptly hacked.  This one was aimed at a place in the middle of the room, while the original camera was still focussed on the tank. 

That tank really disturbed Toshiko.

The gas within glowed blue, and every once in a while the alien within would move, pressing against the glass or throwing some sort of fluid that made a sickening splatter when it hit.  Toshiko managed to make out three long necks and a barrel-shaped body, but the gas kept her from getting any better glances at the 456.  She quit trying after a while, deciding that it really wasn’t that important that she know.

Her teammates kept her fed and hydrated during her time at the computers.  Owen brought some gossip along the lines of Rhiannon catching Alice and Patrick making out at the lake; he’d even did a really bad imitation of Rhiannon’s cooing over the new couple.  Toshiko was glad for them, but it certainly had taken them long enough. 

She decided not to tell either Jack or Ianto.  Mainly because she wanted to be there in person when they found out.

It was nearly dark when activity started up in Thames House.

Toshiko chimed in at the Hub, and it was only seconds later when Jack and Ianto appeared.  She barely hid her smirk, because it was quite obvious what the boys had been getting up to with an empty Hub.  This made her news about Alice and Patrick even sweeter, but she still wasn’t going to say a thing.

Instead, she said, “There’s something going on at Thames House.  I think things are getting ready to kick off there.”

_“Thanks, Tosh,”_ Jack said.  _“You better let the others know.”_

“On it.” 

Toshiko reached over for the phone that Johnny had thoughtfully hooked up for her, since she still wasn’t ready to use her mobile, and dialled the Green Dragon Inn.  Rhiannon answered, _“Thank you for calling the Green Dragon Inn, Rhiannon Jones-Davies speaking.”_

“Rhiannon, it’s Toshiko.  Things are happening.”

_“We’re on our way.”_ She hung up before Toshiko could question who ‘we’ were.

She put the phone down.  “They’re coming…and from what Rhiannon just said the team might have company.”

_“Good,”_ Jack approved.  _“The more witnesses, the better.”_

Before she knew it, both the team and a large chunk of the adult population of Ddraig Llyn had managed to squeeze into the small house that was Torchwood’s secondary Hub.  Not everyone could see what was on the screen, but they’d be able to hear.

The team, plus Alice and Estelle, were clustered around Toshiko.  No one had argued with their right to be close to the workstation, their eyes on the unfolding drama going on down in London.

Toshiko felt something change in the atmosphere.  A tingle went up and then back down her spine, and she shivered.  Owen, who was sitting next to her, must have felt it, because he gave her a look that she interpreted as, _‘Are you alright?’_

She gave him a short nod, and Owen nodded back.  He turned back to watch the movements going on at Thames House, but he reached out and grasped her hand in support. 

Toshiko was grateful, but couldn’t help but wish that it was Kathy giving the comfort.

Several black-clad guards entered the room, taking up positions along the perimeter, automatic weapons at the ready.  Just as they were getting settled, a man and a woman came in behind them.  The man was John Frobisher, and he looked a bit nervous, fiddling with his tie.

_“The woman is Bridget Spears,”_ Ianto volunteered.  _“She’s Frobisher’s PA.”_

The pair stopped in the centre of the room, speaking quietly, and then Bridget Spears left camera range.  Toshiko turned up the gain on the speakers just a bit, hoping for more sound.

Others entered after them, to a man staring at the tank as if they were seeing some sort of miracle.  Ianto began a running commentary of who these people were, and it read as a hodgepodge of governmental officials.  One of them was an American general, and Toshiko wished she could have heard the conversation he’d had with the Prime Minister when he’d arrived.

Speaking of the Prime Minister…

“Where’s the Prime Minister?” she asked.

“I don’t seem him,” Rhys put in.

_“He’s not there,”_ Ianto confirmed.

_“It could be some sort of concession,”_ Jack answered.  _“If the Americans are as pissed off as that memo you found states, Toshiko, then Green could have stepped aside in favour of someone who wasn’t in the actual British government.”_

“Could also be plausible deniability,” Patrick added.  “I mean, if they’re determined to hide Britain’s previous involvement with the 456…”

Both comments made sense, Toshiko admitted.  She wondered if she could dig up something later on, and check to see which one might be correct…unless they both were.

“I don’t see UNIT,” Patrick said.

Toshiko hadn’t either, and she wondered what that meant.

She didn’t know if anyone had a theory about that, because Frobisher began to speak.   

_“Thank you.  If I might bring into session the first diplomatic congress between the representatives of the planet Earth and the representative of the 456.  I bring you greetings from the United States of America, from the People’s republic of China…”_

Frobisher kept droning on, and Jack spoke over him, _“I think it’s safe to say that Frobisher’s been put in charge of this horse and pony show.  It would make sense, if the PM recused himself from the proceedings.  Frobisher isn’t voted in and if anything goes wrong then Green won’t be seen putting his foot into it.”_

Frobisher droned on, listing a laundry list of governments until he finally said, _“And it must be stated on the record that any country not named herein does not indicate their withdrawal from these proceedings.  And, according to the rules of protocol as established by the United Nations, I must ask you to state if these greetings are accepted.”_

It was as if the air had been stolen from the room.  Everyone was holding their breaths, those who hadn’t been in the secondary Hub before waiting to see what the 456 sounded like. 

There were some splatting noises, but no response.

Frobisher looked pained.  _“Do you understand me?”_ He waited for a few more seconds, and then said, _“I repeat, I must ask you to state –“_

_“Yes,”_ came the disembodied and mechanical-sounding voice of the 456.

Toshiko shivered again at the utter inhumanity of that sound. 

There were more noises from the tank, and the shadowy shape within was twitching and spitting.  As they watched, someone from the audience left the room, holding a hand over her mouth in order to keep from vomiting.

“Makes me glad we’re not up close and personal,” Owen snarked.  There were some chuckles from around them, breaking the tension somewhat.

_“Are you alright?”_ Frobisher asked worriedly.  _“I’m sorry, but I can’t help but be concerned.  Is there a problem?”_

The 456 thrashed about some more, before settling down.  A repeat of what Frobisher had said came from the large speakers next to the tank, causing Frobisher to frown.

_“Do you want me to continue?”_ he inquired.

_“Yes,”_ the 456 answered.

_“Right, then in the spirit of cooperation we must ask that you no longer use the children for communication, in case certain parties or territories consider that a violation.  Is that acceptable?”_

There was a long pause, and Toshiko was wondering if the alien was actually going to answer, when a single, sibilant, _“Yes,”_ came from the speakers.

“Fuck,” Owen swore. “We were counting on getting one more set of testing in order to pinpoint the frequency exactly.”

Toshiko didn’t say anything, but Owen was right.  They’d both hoped for one more chance to observe the chanting, to get a better handle on just what was causing it.  She hadn’t had a lot of luck with the Archangel Network, but she’d wished…but at least the children appeared to be safe, which was a very good thing indeed.

  _“And,”_ Frobisher went on, _“as a gift and as a welcome to our world, we’ve prepared a document summarising our culture and history –“_

“This is a bit boring,” Patrick commented.

Toshiko had to admit he had a point, but they had to at least play with diplomacy, in order to give the whole thing an air of respectability.

“Gotta make it look official,” Owen said, unconsciously mirroring her thoughts. 

_“Something’s happening,”_ Ianto’s voice came over the connection.

Toshiko tore her gaze away from the tank just in time to see someone step forward and hand Frobisher a piece of paper.  Frobisher read it, frowning, and then turned back to the 456.

_“I have been given a specific request for information,”_ he said, not looking happy.  _“It has been asked…why the 456 chose Great Britain for its point of embarkation.”_

“Yeah, I’m sure he doesn’t want _that_ question answered,” Patrick scoffed.

_“I’ll bet anyone ten pounds it was the Americans,”_ Jack replied.

“No bet,” Alice said. 

_“We came here…”_ the 456 began, with a bit of thrashing.  Something slimy hit the glass once more, and Toshiko didn’t envy the person who would be assigned to clean up after the alien. 

There was a long pause, and it was obvious that the 456 was trying to come up with something that wouldn’t out Frobisher to the rest of the room and to whomever was listening on the other end of the camera set-up…which Toshiko knew was the Prime Minister and the cabinet, since she’d hacked the connection earlier. 

After what seemed like forever, the 456 spoke again.  _“We came here…you have no significance.  You are middle men.”_

“I could have called that lie,” Patrick said.  “There was no way they were going to rat out their buddy Frobisher, not until they got whatever the hell they want.”

_“They’re on the same side,”_ Ianto pointed out.  _“But, I just know if the time comes, the 456 won’t hesitate to spill everything.”_

“They’re spilling a lot now,” someone from the back of the room – Toshiko was pretty certain it was Johnny Davies – snorted, as another stream of slime splatted against the side of the tank.

Several people chuckled, while others made noises that suggested they’d found the comment – and the alien – pretty offensive.  There was also the sound of a slap, a small, pained, “Ow,” and Toshiko didn’t even have to see to know that Rhiannon was attempting to bring her husband back into line.

_“We have a request,”_ the 456 said. 

_“By all means,”_ Frobisher replied, looking uncomfortable.

_“We want a gift.”_

_“Of course, but what nature of gift exactly?”_

_“We want a gift.”_

Frobisher’s expression went from worry to frustration, but he carefully did not let it show in his voice.  _“Gladly, but what do you want?”_

The activity within the tank grew frenzied, and Toshiko couldn’t help but flinch back at a particularly hard crash into the glass.  She hoped it held up to the punishment.

_“We want…your children,”_ the alien hissed.  _“We will take your children.”_

The room behind Toshiko broke out into uproar.  “No fucking way!” someone shouted, while the other villagers agreed with various other curses and slurs against the alien, and against the government.  By now the story had gotten around about what Jack had had to do back in 1965, and while the village had been firmly in Jack’s corner apparently none of them had thought that this could be the reason the 456 had returned.

Frobisher looked appalled.  _“I…I’m sorry, but I think there’s something wrong with the translation…”_

“He only wishes there were,” Owen growled.

Toshiko took a moment to glance over at the screen where she could see Jack and Ianto back in the Hub, to see how her friends were taking the news.  Jack had gone white, and Ianto had him in an embrace, whispering something in his ear that Toshiko couldn’t make out.  She wished she was there, to help Ianto comfort his mate, because while this was always a possibility, hearing it must have been a tremendous blow to Jack’s conscience.

Frobisher was speaking, but Toshiko missed his words.  She, however, didn’t miss what the 456 said next.  _“Your descendants.  The offspring of the human race.”_

_“How many?”_ Frobisher choked out.  In Toshiko’s opinion, this was completely the wrong thing to say.  He should have been stating that this was not an option; that the children of Earth were not something he was willing to give away. 

But no, Frobisher asked _how many._

_“Ten percent.  We want ten percent.  Ten percent of the children on this world.”_

 

 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

**_18 September 2009_ **

**_Day Four_ **

****

“Thanks again, Martha,” Ianto said, coming out of the bedroom he’d shared with Jack for a brief nap after they’d arrived.  He’d slept as a human, which usually was uncomfortable for him, but flying from Cardiff to London in the very late hours seemed to have tired him out enough to make him sleep in a way he normally didn’t.  Plus, he couldn’t very well change his shape in Martha and Tom’s flat; it would be very difficult to resume his normal shape in a very human-dimensioned space.

“It’s no problem,” Martha said breezily as she sipped her coffee, her dark eyes watching her new husband, Tom, as he worked over the stove making breakfast.  They made a fantastic couple; the strong and self-assured medical doctor and the quiet, calm former paediatrician-turned trauma specialist.  They complimented each other, and Ianto was very glad that Tom had sought Martha out after that Year, in order to ask her out.  It had turned out for the best, for all concerned.

Jack had been up before him, and he stood at the counter helping Tom by making toast, his hair still slightly damp from the shower he must have taken.  His braces were down around his waist, his white undershirt gleaming in the early morning sunlight coming in from the kitchen window.  “How did you get him to help, Tom?” Ianto teased, sounding astonished.  “I usually have to withhold coffee to get Jack to do anything.”

“Oi!” Jack exclaimed.  “Quit giving Tom a bad impression of me!”

Tom laughed.  “I think I already have a bad impression of you, Jack.  Ianto didn’t have to do anything at all!”

The dragon laughed as Martha smacked her husband.  “Play nice, the three of you,” she mock-warned.

“Yes, mother,” Ianto answered, as Jack gave her a salute with the butter knife and Tom simply rolled his eyes.

“Last I heard,” Martha said, “you were the mother, Ianto.”

“That’s up for debate,” the dragon said primly.  “I think that title gets passed back and forth between Jack and I.”

“But it’s usually you that’s the mother,” Jack replied, grinning.  “It’s your nurturing nature.”

“Where Jack wouldn’t know a nurturing nature if it bit him in the arse,” Martha returned, earning herself a deadly Harkness pout.

Ianto couldn’t help but laugh once more.  He and Martha might have disagreed about a few things – her complete faith in the Doctor being one of them – but he dearly loved her.  He’d seen first-hand her strength and determination during the Year of the Toclafane, and he would have respected her even if they hadn’t become friends. 

He and Jack had left Cardiff late, after they’d dropped off their prisoners at Cardiff CID.  Kathy had been sleeping at the time, curled up on the sofa in her office, so they’d left the three Retconned MI5 operatives off with the sergeant on duty, who had been more than willing to lock them up not far from where they’d put their own prisoner.  Kathy had said her name was Johnson, and she’d given her opinion that she’d been the one in charge of whatever the hell was going on, and Ianto was willing to accept her assessment of the situation.  Ianto would have dearly loved to speak with the agent, but she’d been sleeping as well, and Jack had wanted to get going and hadn’t wanted to wait. 

They’d arrived in London a few hours before dawn, and surprisingly enough Martha had been waiting up for them.  She’d shown them to their room then had joined her husband in their own bedroom.  The dragon had been asleep before he even knew he’d gone to bed.

“I talked to Toshiko last night,” Martha went on, “and she set us up on the subwave network.  She said she’d call this morning when she’d found out when the next meeting with the 456 was going to be.”

“Sounds good.”  Ianto was glad that Toshiko had brought Martha and Tom up to date, to save them from having to do so.

“I just can’t believe it,” Tom said, shaking his head as he scooped eggs onto the plates lined up on the counter.  “I know we’ve seen a lot of things, but an alien race demanding our children?  Do we even know what for?”

“Not yet,” Jack answered, picking up two plates and handing one each to Ianto and Martha, who put down her cup onto the bench and proceeded to tuck in.  One of the things they’d learned during the Master’s reign was that food could be scarce and to eat when you could; even after over a year of time being back to normal it was still a hard habit to break at times.

Ianto also began eating.  “We’re hoping we find out more today,” he said, taking a mouthful of egg.  “This is really good, Tom.  Thanks for cooking.”

“No problem, Ianto.”

“The next meeting has to be today,” Jack went on.  “Even if they don’t answer that particular question, we’re bound to get more information than we had before.”

“Are you both still planning on storming Downing Street?” Martha asked, a gleam in her eye.

“If we have to,’ Ianto replied.

“Which we think we will,” Jack added.  He took a plate for himself and began shovelling it in.  No matter how old Jack Harkness got, his table manners never improved.  “The Prime Minister needs to know who he’s going to potentially piss off if he goes along with this sordid mess.”

“Do you think he will?”  Martha asked.

Jack shrugged.  “The government did before.  I don’t hold out hope that they won’t this time, either.”

“They haven’t actually made any threats,” Ianto said.  “But given that their last had to do with a biological event, we can assume this will be the same as well.”

“The Indonesian Flu of 1965 could have killed millions,” Tom said.  “I read about it in medical school.  The vaccine came from out of nowhere, and stove off what could have been the worst outbreak since 1918.”

Jack shuddered.  “I lived through that one, and it really was horrific.”

Ianto put a hand on his mate’s shoulder. “I remember it as well, but not in the same way as anyone else.  Ddraig Llyn was still fairly isolated and while the influenza did take several lives, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.”

“It’s still known as the worst pandemic of the 20th Century,” Martha replied.  “I don’t think I want to imagine what the theoretical outbreak of 1965 would have been like.”

“The world was still in the midst of the Cold War,” Jack lectured.  “President Kennedy had been assassinated nearly two years before, and the world was still coming to terms with that.  The world was a mess back then, and that single thing – a virulent strain of flu – could have tipped the planet over the edge of no return.  The prevention of the influenza stopped that from happening.  I’m not condoning what the British Government did, I’m not saying that…we should never have done what we’d done.  But I also have to say that the 456 used events to their advantage, and I can’t help but think they’ll do the same thing again.”

Ianto felt that Jack was correct in his assessment.  While Ddraig Llyn had revelled in their isolation, events of the world still came to their collective ears, and the dragon had despaired of the human race several times in his over two millennia of living.  Wars, pestilence, murders…humanity could be so very violent and uncaring of their own.

And yet…humankind could also be overly protective and loving as well.  It was a dichotomy that Ianto sometimes simply couldn’t understand; two sides of the same human coin that refused to be reconciled.  They entered into Pacts and deals that should have been abhorrent, and yet cherish what they would give away. 

This was why Ianto despaired and yet had hope for humans.  His team had showed him that not all humankind was simply black and white, good and bad.  There were so many shades in-between that the very diversity meant anything could happen; any side could become triumphant.  He looked to his mate to guide him, since Jack had seen the very future Ianto wished for, and while it still was as confusing as ever has been there was a glimmer of light on that far-flung horizon.

A sudden beeping sound came from Martha’s laptop, which had been set conspicuously on the flat’s small dining table.  Ianto got to it a mere heartbeat behind Jack, who took the seat in front of it.

The subwave network had originally been created as a semi-sentient programme that would search and locate anyone who had once been a companion of the Doctor.  As such, it worked very well…but Toshiko had made it even better. 

She added set parameters to search for anyone requested by the user.  This meant it would no longer only seek out former companions…it would use its locator programming to find any and all computer systems that would belong to the person being searched for.  It was a bit of genius, really, and Ianto thought it worked better with the new prompts within its search matrix.

Still, at its very core the subwave network was still the ultimate companion-hunter, and since Martha had travelled with the Doctor it would always find her, no matter where she was.  Toshiko had pinged her first thing that morning, and they’d just been waiting to hear back from her about any and all further meetings with the ambassador of the 456.

“What’s up, Toshiko?” Jack asked.  Then he frowned.  “When was the last time you slept?”

_“Last night…sometime,”_ she answered vaguely. 

Ianto could see why Jack was concerned.  Toshiko looked exhausted, with circles under her eyes and her normally well-kept hair was pulled back into a limp pony tail.  “Tosh,” the dragon admonished softly, “you should be getting some rest.”

She sighed.  _“I know, but there’s so much to do –“_

“Do we have to sic Kathy on you?” Jack asked, his tone light but there was the substance of an order in it. 

_“She’d be saying the same thing,”_ Toshiko said.  _“But she’s not here at the moment, and I have news.”_

“What’s going on?” Jack demanded.

_“It looks like they’re gearing up for another interview with the 456,”_ their technician answered.  Another window opened, and it showed the inside of the room where the atmospheric tank was.  There were a couple of people inside the room; one was adjusting one of the cameras, and the focus kept going in and out.  The tank itself cast a noxious gloom over the checkerboard pattern of tiles of the floor.

“Maybe we’ll know more after this one,” Ianto mused.  They’d planned on crashing whatever meeting there was on the subject of the 456.  Since the Prime Minister had not been visibly involved so far, they had no idea just what Brian Green thought of it all, although Ianto wouldn’t put anything past the man.  He was as ruthless as he was weak, and the dragon could not find it within him to even consider that Green would stand up to the 456’s demands.

“Have you found out anything else, Tosh?” Martha asked.  She’d taken the news that UNIT seemed to be involved in whatever was going on with silence and a clenched jaw, and Ianto could tell that while she wasn’t happy about it, it hadn’t surprised her overly much.  After the Osterhagen business, he doubted anything really could anymore.

_“There’s a scheduled Gold Command meeting today at noon,”_ Toshiko answered.  _“I managed to get that from Frobisher’s online schedule.”_

“We expected something like that sometime today,” Jack said.  “Green hasn’t been present at these so-called negotiations, plus he can’t act without the rest of the Cabinet being aware of the situation.”

“He’s distancing himself from whatever’s going on,” Tom replied.

“Yep,” Ianto agreed.  “The man isn’t about to get caught in a scandal if he can avoid it.  But, at the same time, he’s going to have to make some sort of decision about the 456’s demands for the children.”

“What are the chances he’ll capitulate?” Martha asked worriedly.

Jack shook his head.  “I can’t see the 456 making hollow threats, and we already know they’re capable of at least one form of biological terrorism: the mutated Indonesian Influenza.  I’ve been thinking about it, and they’re knowing that it existed in the first place makes me highly suspicious.  They could have manufactured the original threat to get what they wanted in the first place.”

Ianto had had the same suspicions.  It seemed too much of a coincidence that the 456 had known about the flu, and if one thing he’d learnt over the centuries was that there was no such thing as a coincidence.  Things were either meant to happen, or manufactured to occur.  He could easily see an alien race who wanted children for whatever reason doing something like that in order to get what they’d wanted.

Minutes later, Frobisher and the rest of the observers filed into the room, and every one of them looked extremely uncomfortable.  Something moved within the blue, glowing smoke, and an appendage slammed against the glass of the tank.  Ianto felt Martha jump against him, and he couldn’t blame her.

Frobisher took a stand in the middle of the room, facing the tank.  _“Hello again,”_ he greeted, shifting nervously.  _“Before we even consider your request, I’ve been asked for a point of clarification.  Before we even discuss this, we need to know what exactly you intend to do with the children.”_

There it was.  Ianto found himself leaning forward, his hand gripping his mate’s shoulder harder than it should, but Jack made no complaint.  He was also leaning toward the computer screen, and even in profile the dragon could practically feel the sharpness in Jack’s stare.

_“We need to know what would happen to our children if we were to hand them over to you,”_ Frobisher reiterated, straightening his spine and looking directly at the tank.

_“It is…off the record,”_ the alien answered.

Frobisher looked shocked, but Ianto couldn’t find it in himself to care that the 456 just used the man’s own request against him.   _“Yes,”_ was the response.

_“Then come in.”_

Ianto frowned.  Was the alien letting someone into the tank?  That was unexpected, after all the secrecy of its arrival.

_“In there?”_ Frobisher clarified.

_“With a camera,”_ the 456 added.  _“Come in.”_

“What does that mean?”  Martha asked sharply.  “There can’t be a child in there, could there?  I mean, the atmosphere would be highly toxic to any oxygen breathing creature, let alone a little kid.”

They watched as a cameraman was prepared to go into the tank.  The man was dressed in a biohazard suit, his camera wrapped up against the corrosive gasses within the tank.  Ianto felt his heartbeat ramp up and he hadn’t even realised he’d wrapped his arms around Jack from behind until his cheek was resting on his mate’s hair.  Jack was trembling in his grasp, but the dragon knew of nothing he could say to make this any better.  He knew how much this had been eating away at Jack; all of those years, not knowing what had happened to those poor children…and now, he was on the cusp of finally seeing what his actions had wrought.  Ianto didn’t even need to be a mind reader in order to know what Jack was thinking and feeling.

Martha was on Jack’s other side, her hand on his arm, and Ianto felt nothing but gratitude toward her.  They’d told her everything that had happened in 1965, and she’d been nothing but supportive.  She’d understood that Jack hadn’t had much of a choice in the matter, and the toll of the emotional blackmail he’d been put through, and she and Tom had quickly disavowed Jack of any guilt he’d been feeling. 

Ianto knew, up until that moment, that his mate had been holding onto that guilt tightly, refusing to let go even though the dragon had told him he didn’t hold it against him.  The rest of the team had been equally supportive, and that had gone a long way in helping Jack deal with his actions, but Martha had been a companion, and in Jack’s mind that leant her opinion a certain weight with him.  Ianto knew, even with the Doctor’s dismissing of Jack during that Year and during the crisis of the Daleks, that his mate still held the Time Lord in a sort of esteem that nothing seemed to be able to break.  Having Martha’s good opinion had completed the healing that Jack had needed. 

But still, they were about to find out exactly what Jack’s actions had wrought, all those years ago.  Of course his mate was terrified.  Ianto couldn’t blame him and would continue to be there for him no matter what.

The cameraman was finally ready, and they watched as he was passed through a form of airlock and into the tank itself.  Through the camera – which Toshiko had had no problem hacking into – they could all see nothing but glowing blue mist, and the atmosphere in the Jones-Milligan’s small lounge was fraught with tension so thick Ianto doubted he could cut it with a talon. 

In another window, the camera in the room was focussed on Frobisher, and the official wore an expression of equal parts dread, confusion, and curiosity.  In a third, was Toshiko’s pale face, and behind her stood what looked to be nearly the entire population of Ddraig Llyn.  Ianto recognised everyone he could make out in the frame; his team, his friends…his family.  Nearly all of them veterans of Harold Saxon’s vicious regime, having seen the horrors of the Toclafane and the torture and rape of their home planet.  Each had fought their own fight, and had come out victorious. 

But nothing had prepared them for what the camera showed them.

The 456 had three vulture-like heads and was covered in goo, but that was all they could make out through the blue fog.  Someone made a comment about three heartbeats, and about three heads, but Ianto wasn’t paying any attention.  His eyes were riveted on the cameraman’s point of view, as he manoeuvred his camera around the creature.

To where the child was hooked into the massive alien.

The child was bald, with eyes that seemed far too large for his small head.  Dirt and grime streaked the pale skin, and he was wearing what looked like a high-tech gas mask over the lower half of his face. 

Ianto heard someone gagging over the connection, and couldn’t blame them one bit.  He wanted to do the same thing himself.

“He hasn’t aged,” Jack whispered, horror leaking from his words like puss from an infected wound.

_“Do you think he knows?”_ Rhys’ voice sounded from the Ddraig Llyn end of the connection.

Owen’s cursing was joined by Patrick’s, and there was also sobbing coming from somewhere.  Ianto only realised he was weeping when a tear fell onto Jack’s shirt, darkening the fabric.

“We have to save him.”

Martha’s choked murmur galvanised Ianto’s thoughts.  But, before he could speak aloud, Frobisher was speaking.

_“What have you done to him?”_ The Permanent Secretary was apparently feeling as horrified as the watchers outside of Thames House were.

The 456 began to thrash, and the cameraman stepped back hurriedly, nearly running back toward the airlock.  Frobisher was demanding that someone get the man out of there as the alien splattered its excretions all over the inside of the tank.

And then, from the speakers that had been set up around the tank, what sounded like Frobisher’s voice echoed throughout the room, replaying that earlier conversation where Frobisher had insisted on keeping the alien’s previous visit under wraps.

_“That’ll set the foxes among the hens,”_ a voice said over the Ddraig Llyn connection, and Ianto was certain it was John Ellis speaking, sounding very satisfied. 

_“So much for secrecy,”_ Patrick was practically crowing.

_“This is unacceptable,”_ Frobisher was saying, anger colouring his words.

_“We do not harm them,”_ the alien answered.  _“They feel no pain.  They live long beyond their years.”_

_“Well, that’s okay then,”_ Owen’s sarcasm was so sharp it almost felt as if a blade had been drawn against Ianto’s exposed skin.

“But we still don’t know what they do to them,” Jack exclaimed, guilt making the words sound thick.  “What does it _do_ to them?  What does it want them _for_?”

Ianto squeezed his mate, his arms not wanting to let him go, needing to somehow ease the suffering that had simply grown as the fate of the single child had been revealed. 

_“We have answered your question,”_ the 456 intoned.  _“You have one Earth day to select and deliver the ten percent.”_

_“And if we refuse?”_ Frobisher demanded, although Ianto thought it was a bit late to finally be developing a spine.

_“We will wipe out your entire species.”_

_“And I call bullshit,”_ Patrick scoffed.  _“You don’t kill off the very thing you’re demanding.”_

The room at Thames House had broken out in shouts as Frobisher, followed by his PA, left the area as if the very hounds of hell were snapping at his heels.  Ianto released his grip on Jack reluctantly, turning to look at Martha.  “Is there a park or forested area anywhere around?”

She looked confused, but answered, “Sure, there’s one about a mile from here.  It’s small, but there are plenty of trees.”

“Then I need to get there.”

Ianto felt every eye on him, including the ones across the monitor in Ddraig Llyn.  _“What are you up to, Dragon Boy?”_ Owen’s acerbic question was echoed in every glance he was receiving.

Ianto grinned.  “I’m going to see if we can save that poor child.”

 

 

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

As opposed to Thames House, everyone in the secondary Hub was silent, as if too stunned to say anything at all about what the 456 were demanding.  Alice knew she was; what she’d heard was inconceivable, that an alien race would threaten the Earth in order to get what they wanted...their children.  And seeing that poor boy tied some way to that hideous alien…it was horrible, too horrible for true words. 

She thought of Patrick’s comment, about the 456 not killing what they were demanding, and while a part of her thought he was being a bit naïve about the whole thing, Alice was truly hoping he was correct in his assessment, that the 456 would want the children too much to destroy what they most wanted.  It would make sense, but how did one know what an alien thought was sense? 

And then her Tad, stating that he wanted to see if they could save that poor child…could they really do that?  Could Ianto arrange to rescue that boy from whatever it was the 456 was doing to them? 

She hoped so.  She truly did.

“What are they getting from those kids?” Owen growled, staring at the screen as the people on floor thirteen in Thames House all left, the room bare once more, illuminated by the sickly glow from the tank. 

It was something Alice wanted to know, as well.  “That little boy was hooked directly into the 456,” she said.  “Why would they do that?”

“And why children of a certain age?” Deborah added.

“It has to do with hormones,” Owen mused.  He was lost in thought.  “I mean, we already know that whatever those bastards use to talk through the children uses a combination of brain chemistry and hormones.  Maybe there’s something in those hormones that do something?  It could be why that poor kid wasn’t physically any older than he’d been when he’d been given up, back in 1965.”

“Is it using those kids for some sort of high?” Patrick asked, disbelief in his voice.  “Is it something in them that…I don’t know…does _something_ for them?”

Owen glanced at him appraisingly.  “You might be onto something there, mate.  We won’t know unless we get our hands on one of the aliens and do some testing, but I can’t honestly come up with any other reason to hook yourself up to an alien child and then prevent them from growing up.”

Alice shivered.  It had been bad enough when the 456 had made their demands, but if Patrick and Owen were correct…it was horrible.  No, it was beyond horrible.  There wasn’t a word strong enough to describe it.

“They can’t get those kids,” someone from the back of the room vowed. 

“There has to be something we can do!” Rhiannon demanded, and Alice knew the expression on her face had to match Alice’s own.   Rhiannon had her own two children, and Alice could see in her the fierceness of a mother’s desire to protect them from anything.

“We’re working on it,” Toshiko joined the conversation.  She’d minimised the window with the signal from Thames House, and the one in Martha’s house was empty. 

“We know you are, love,” John Ellis said, and he favoured her with a sympathetic smile.  “If there’s something we’ve all learned it’s that Torchwood will always do its best, no matter the situation.”

There was a rumble of assent from the rest of the room, and Alice realised these weren’t empty words.  These people trusted Torchwood; trusted the team to do what was right, and if they failed there would be no shame in it, because they’d done everything they could in order to protect this planet and its people, to the very death if needed.

This was so unlike her mother’s version of Torchwood that Alice was glad that her dads had changed so much about the organisation that had once practically held Jack Harkness prisoner to its whims and had forced him to give up twelve innocent children to the aliens in the first place.

“Come on,” Johnny Davies called out over the crowd, “let’s let them all get back to work, alright?  They’ll let us know when something else is happening.”  He began to usher the villagers out, and Alice was very grateful to him for it.

She felt a touch on her hand.  Looking down she saw Patrick’s fingers tracing lightly over the back, and Alice turned her hand around and grasped his.  She met his gaze and saw a faint blush at his ears, but the fierceness in his eyes told her everything she needed to know: he would stand beside her, and protect the family that he’d found himself pulled into when he’d accepted the position into the team. 

Eventually everyone had gone, leaving the team standing around the monitors.  Rhiannon had commented that she’d be bringing food with her in a little bit, and Alice hadn’t realised she was hungry until her fellow Dragon Friend had mentioned it. 

Toshiko looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes.  Alice knew she’d been working almost non-stop since they’d arrived, only being chivvied off to bed by her Tad and then by Rhys.  Owen rested a hand on their technician’s shoulder, and she visibly leaned into the comfort of that touch. 

“What can we do?” Alice asked, wanting to take some of the burden from the pair of them.  In this Toshiko and Owen were on point; they were the ones who had the most to do, trying to figure out how to block the 456 from getting to the children, and to somehow get the aliens to back off. 

Toshiko rubbed her forehead.  “I’m still working on hacking the Archangel Network, and I guess this time I have a bit of a head start, since we got some of the schematics from when it was shut down, but still…it’s such a mishmash of human engineering and Time Lord technology it’s like trying to read a novel in a language I’ve never learned.”

“You know what you should do?” Rhys asked.  “You should call Kathy and talk to her for a minute.  We know you’re missing her.”

She shook her head.  “I don’t have the time –“

“You should take the time,” Alice encouraged, agreeing with Rhys completely.  “Get your mind off things at the moment.  We have until noon, before you need to get into the Downing Street systems…”

“Not that I can,” Toshiko answered.  “Well, I can into some of the building, but there aren’t any security devices inside the Cabinet room to hack into.”

“Then you don’t have to worry about that,” Deborah joined in.

“Yeah, Tosh,” Owen said, “call Kathy.  She needs to know you’re fine, and it’ll clear your head for a bit.  I can make it an order if you want, since I’m in command when both Harkness and Dragon Boy are out in the field…” 

Toshiko sighed, a smile tugging her lips upward in what had to be an involuntary smile.  “You just want to throw your weight around, Owen.”

“Not that you have much weight to throw around,” Patrick teased.

“I’m wiry,” Owen snarked.  “I don’t have to be built like a brick shithouse to kick arse.  Besides, I’m not the one who needs to watch the pastries, Delaware.”

Patrick spluttered, and Alice couldn’t help but laugh.  This was her family, and while they had a tendency to drive her crazy she would be forever grateful they were in her life.

 

**********

 

The forest wasn’t old, not like Roundstone Wood, and there was none of the sense of power and agelessness that Ianto got whenever he went there.  No, this small park had been planted perhaps fifty years previously, maybe to replace something that had once been there but had not survived the Blitz, but it would do.  

He made his way deeper into the trees, the unnaturalness of the landscape at odds with the magic he was drawing around himself.  Ianto could feel Jack, Martha, and Tom flanking him, and he welcomed their company as he walked, letting the change from human to dragon overcome him as he moved. 

The dragon spoke the Word of Power, and the ages of the Earth surrounded him, from young trees to blasted-out landscape, from fire to flood to ice to bare rock, time spooling backward and forward as he called the Lost Lands to him, called to the Fae who would not be able to resist his summoning. 

The dragon moved assuredly between the trees and the ages, until he came to the centre of the woods, and there was yet another of the stones of creation, much like the one from Roundstone Wood, only this one existing on a different, physical plane than the one he was familiar with. 

This was a different tribe of Fae, one that he did not know, but one that would be as aware of events as their cousins were.  They stood surrounding them, and the dragon bowed his head to their leader, a Fae larger than the rest, wearing an ancient sword at its waist.  _“Ancient One,”_ the Fae greeted him.  _“You are far from home.”_

“With good reason,” he answered. 

_“We know much, and the reason for your presence,”_ the Fae answered.  It waved a hand, and Jasmine Pierce appeared beside him, still looking much like the school girl he and Jack had had to give up a couple of years ago.  _“This one has told us.  What do you here, you and these humans?”_

“We have discovered one of the stolen children,” he said, going on to explain what they had seen in Thames House.  “He appears to be attached to the alien, and still a child even after all the years that have passed.  If you had access to him, could you save him?”

The Fae considered him.  Ianto knew it was a risk, but anything was better than leaving that poor boy to his fate.  He heard Jack gasp behind him, and knew that his mate was realising what Ianto was offering. 

_“We cannot get to the child,”_ the Fae finally answered.  _“The creature’s presence is anathema to us.”_

Ianto’s heart sank.  It had been a long shot, and promising a child to the Fae would have most likely backfired in some way, but it had been a far better fate than whatever the 456 had done to him.

“But if you had access,” Jack pressed, stepping forward.  “If we could somehow get you into that tank, past that shit the alien calls air, then could you do it?”

There was such hope in his voice, and the dragon turned to look at his mate.  Jack’s face was stern, and yet his eyes were practically glowing.  Jack knew what they were suggesting, to hand over yet another child to the Fae, but this was indeed the lesser of evils for them.  It was redemption of sorts for Jack, and Ianto was grieved and yet at the same time glad that he was accepting of this compromise.

_“You sing a different song now, undying one,”_ Jasmine said, staring at him shrewdly.

Jack straightened.  “Look, I might not agree with what the human race did when it offered you their children,” he said, “but I understand why they did it.  I also might not agree with your methods in bringing your Chosen Ones over.  But I do know that the children you do take are ones that will have more of a life with you than they will in their very own homes, and that the ones we handed over to the 456 might have once even been picked out to join you.  That child has been used in some way that is far worse than the freedom you offer, and if you can take him away from what he’s going through now you’re only doing that poor kid a favour.  He doesn’t deserve what happened to him.”

The Fae leader hopped closer to Jack, and Ianto was proud of his mate for not taking a step away from the imposing creature.  The dragon knew what this was costing Jack, how much his mate disliked the Fae and what they’d done to earn that dislike, but this was the only true way of saving that child hooked up to the 456 like some sort of inexplicable parasite.  The Great Dragons alone knew what they’d done to that boy, or even if he would survive being disconnected from the alien, and this was the only chance he would have to come out of it somehow intact.

_“We can but try,”_ the Fae answered.  _“There is no guarantee.  However, try we shall.”_

“Thank you,” the dragon bowed once more.  “How can we signal you when we’ve achieved this?”

_“I am still Named the Witness,”_ Jasmine replied.  _“I see everything that you do. I can inform my brethren of your success…or failure.”_

_“You have still to stop the Breaking,”_ the leader reminded them. 

Ianto knew now what had been meant by the Fae’s warnings of the Breaking, having heard the 456’s ultimatum.  Patrick may have been right about the alien not killing what they were demanding, but there was still the chance that they would let loose something upon the Earth that would destroy everything.  And, once they got the children, they would have plenty of breeding stock and would most likely not need the Earth any longer.

“We’re working on that,” Jack said.  “We’ve been given a time limit – the 456 are demanding the children tomorrow.  That gives us some time to stop this from happening.”

He sounded so certain…just like his mate should.  It was as if the chance of saving at least one of the children he’d given up on 1965 had revived Jack’s spirit, and the Captain of Torchwood was quickly coming back to the fore.  Ianto felt his heart swell for his mate, for the return of the confident man he’d bonded himself to. 

They would have a chance to make things right after all.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

If someone had told Jack Harkness before today that, speaking to the Fae would make him feel better, he would have called them a liar.

But, as they made their way back to Martha and Tom’s car, that was exactly what he was feeling.

Just knowing that there was a possibility that one of the children he’d been forced to give away could be saved lifted a weight Jack knew he’d been carrying with him for decades.  Yes, there were eleven more innocent lives out there, slaves to whatever perversions the 456 were committing against them, but just the mere chance of rescuing one of those poor souls made things seem somewhat brighter. 

“So, those were the Fae?” Martha asked as they climbed into the car, Tom in the driver’s seat.  “I’m impressed.”

“They’re not what I was expecting,” Tom admitted, turning the ignition and pulling out into traffic.  “Maybe I’ve watched too many Disney movies or something…”

Jack choked on his laughter, but Ianto didn’t bother.  “You were thinking Tinkerbelle?” the dragon asked.

“Um…maybe?”  Tom sounded embarrassed.

“I can see why,” Jack said, putting his friend out of his misery.  “Estelle was the same: seeing the fairies as something fantastical.  In fact, they have a secondary form, which is of the glowing, winged fairies from the stories in books and stuff.  So you’re excused for thinking that.”

“The Fae appear as they need to appear,” Ianto added.  “This is them, prepared for whatever is about to happen…unless we can stop it.”

“Are you both still planning on going to the Gold Command meeting?” Martha asked.

Jack nodded.  “We need to.  We need to try and talk them out of giving the 456 what they want.” 

“How are you supposed to get into Downing Street with an assassination order out on you?”

Martha had a point, but Jack had been thinking about just that thing.  “I doubt that anyone beyond MI5 know about that,” he said.  “Sure, they’ll try to stop us but it won’t be for that reason.”

“Which is why we’re hoping Sir Alistair comes through for us,” Ianto admitted.  “He was going to try and see Her Majesty yesterday afternoon, and if he managed to then she’ll know everything we do at that point.  Getting permission from the Queen will get us practically anywhere.”

They hadn’t heard from the Brigadier since Jack had last spoken with him, after warning him to back off any enquiries into what UNIT was up to.  He certainly hoped that the old soldier had been able to get past the royal security and into the Queen’s presence. 

“If not,” Jack went on, “then hopefully we can get something through Commodore Sullivan.  He’s a friend of Her Majesty’s as well, just not on par with Sir Alistair.  Plus, he has connections with NATO, and I doubt he’d be getting in with his credentials, not if they want to keep things hidden.  Certainly the government has been hiding what’s going on, and Commodore Sullivan might have no idea, but I doubt they’d risk letting him in.  The Brigadier is another circumstance entirely.”

“And, if it all goes tits’ up,” Tom replied, “then you can always fake something up.”

Jack laughed.  “There’s that, yes.  Toshiko really is just that good, and Ianto knows his way around the proper forms.”

“We really want the Queen to know, though,” the dragon said.  “I know they have to be hiding this from her, because there’s no way she’d go along with giving the 456 a single child.”

“We don’t know if that’s what they plan on doing,” Martha pointed out.

“True,” Jack conceded, “but they did it in the past.  I can easily seeing Green and Frobisher agreeing with it.”

“But not the entire planet,” Martha argued.  “No way, no how.”

“The United States, certainly,” Jack conceded.  “After 9/11 giving into these sorts of threats is something they just won’t do.  And you’re right; there are other countries that won’t give in as well.  But I have some doubts about some of the third-world countries, who already have too many mouths to feed and not enough resources to do it.  Also, there’s China…the most populous country on Earth.  They’ve been known to have laws on the books in order to curb the rampant over-population already going on.  What better way to solve some of their issues than to give away what they could very well consider surplus numbers of their population?”

“Jack, that’s harsh,” Martha gasped.

“Yeah, but it’s not out of the question,” Tom put in.  “I did some volunteering before that Year, and I saw first-hand some of the conditions children have to live in, in some of those countries.  Overcrowding and lack of resources is a very real thing in far too many countries out there.  Some governments might take the opportunity to try and get things under control.  Some might even see this as a good thing, if the children aren’t harmed and far outlive their lifetimes.  I’m not saying it’s right,” he added, most likely in response to the expression on his wife’s face, “I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“Unfortunately, both Tom and Jack have valid points,” Ianto sighed.  “But we still have the British government going behind everyone else’s back to handle these negotiations.  We need to stop them before they get to the point where they actually decide to give the 456 what they want.”

“No matter how bad things are on Earth,” Jack said, “that doesn’t mean humanity gets to solve its problems by giving away ten percent of its children.  I might not totally agree with the original Pact your ancestors made with the Fae, but at least they only take one at a time, and the children are usually mistreated or abandoned or unloved where they’re taken from.  They didn’t do it to get rid of what they might have considered unwanted sections of the human population; they did it as a last resort, to save their entire race.  If that Pact hadn’t been made, there would be no humans, and it wasn’t made based on terrorist demands.  The 456 are bullies who want their way, or else.”

Jack knew he was splitting hairs, but in the long run the children ‘adopted’ by the Fae were cared for and loved, albeit in the Fae’s own way.  What would happen to the children that the 456 demanded?  He didn’t know, but he could tell it wasn’t pleasant.

They would be safer with the Fae.  He only hoped that they’d be able to rescue the one in Thames House.

 

**********  

 

Toshiko sipped her coffee as she looked out through her wife’s computer, seeing the empty chair that Kathy usually sat in. 

Using the subwave network to seek out Kathy’s work terminal had been child’s play.  Toshiko had been glad that her teammates had talked her into contacting Kathy; she was missing her terribly, and wished that she could be there as well. 

But, Kathy had her duty.  She was like Toshiko that way: needing to do what was required to help the people around her.  It was that sense of duty that made Kathy such a superb police officer, and Toshiko wouldn’t change her for anything.

Certainly, there were times like this when Toshiko wished they could work together, but Kathy wouldn’t leave the Cardiff CID, and Toshiko respected her for it.  While Kathy was excellent support for Torchwood, she would never be a full member of the team, even though she was a part of their extended family and would always be accepted as such.

Rhiannon bustled in, carrying a tray which she set down on the desk in front of Toshiko.  “Kathy not there?” she asked, resting her hip against the edge.

“No, but she’s not far,” Toshiko answered, her stomach suddenly rumbling at the breakfast on the plate.  Eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast dripping with butter made her mouth water.  “Thanks, this looks fantastic.”

“No problem.”  Rhiannon was silent for a moment.  “You work too hard, Tosh.  I wish there was something we could do to help.”

“It’s a dirty job,” she said, trying to laugh and failing at it, “but someone has to do it.”  She picked up her fork, taking a bite of the scrambled egg, practically moaning at the taste.  “Usually Ianto’s the one to help me out on the tech stuff,” she said after she’d swallowed, “but with him and Jack in London…Owen’s doing what he can, and he has some really interesting theories on how the 456 are using the kids to communicate, but as smart as he is he just doesn’t understand this sort of coding.”

“What about Patrick?”

Toshiko shrugged.  “He’s good with offensive and defensive tech, and he does know his way around the mainframe, but he’s not a hacker.  The one time he tried to hack eBay he got caught and Ianto had to cover things up to keep him from getting deported back to the States.”

Rhiannon laughed.  “I bet he was embarrassed.”

“Patrick doesn’t embarrass easily…unless you’re Alice, of course.”  She tucked into her breakfast with gusto, enjoying everything on her plate.

“Oh goddess, those two are so cute together!”  Rhiannon practically shrieked.

“You’re not kidding.  I’m waiting for Patrick to go to either Ianto or Jack and make his intentions known.  Not that they don’t already have a clue, of course.”

There was a rustling from the speakers flanking the monitor, and Toshiko turned to see her spouse taking a seat at her desk.  Grinning, she waited for her to get settled and then announced her presence with a cheery, “Hi.”

Kathy practically jumped out of her chair in surprise.  _“Jesus Christ!”_ she cried out, clutching her hand over her heart.  _“Don’t do that to me!”_

Toshiko couldn’t help but laugh and Rhiannon joined her.  “Did I surprise you?” she teased.

_“Bloody hell, woman!”_ Kathy exclaimed.  _“It’s a good thing I love you!”_

Toshiko was so glad to see Kathy she couldn’t help but smiling.  “And I love you too.”

_“How the hell are you jacking my computer?”_

“I’m just that good.”

Kathy rolled her eyes.  _“Okay…okay, yes you are.  How’s things going on your end?”_

“Not too good, actually.”  Toshiko filled her in on what was going on, not even noticing when Rhiannon left the room in order for them to converse in private.

_“You’re kidding…these aliens actually want the kids?”_ Kathy looked incredulous.  _“Has anyone told them to fuck off yet?”_

“Jack and Ianto are working on it.  They’re going to confront the Prime Minister, and then hopefully the alien itself.”

_“Do they think it’s gonna go down, with the aliens getting the kids?”_

“I have no idea.  If the government does capitulate, it will be an even bigger mess according to the Fae.”

_“I just can’t see it.  We’ve always been told to say no to terrorist demands.”_

“I would have thought it would apply to this, too.”  Toshiko sighed.  “I’ll be so glad when this is over.”

_“You look like you haven’t slept very well.”_

“It’s hard to sleep without you.”  She felt herself blushing slightly at the admission.

Kathy’s face softened.  _“Yeah, I know.  I haven’t been home since this shit started, and my office sofa has a lump that hits me right in the shoulder.”_

“We’ll need to get you a new one, then.”

_“Actually, I was thinking that I wouldn’t sleep on it again once you get home.”_

“That sounds like a plan.  Hopefully we’ll be finished here soon.”

_“Yeah, I hope so too.”_

They chatted for a couple of minutes, until there was a chime signalling something going on in Thames House.  Toshiko pulled up the window showing the camera views from within, and cursed as she watched Frobisher enter the room and take up a place in front of the glass.  “I’m sorry, but I have to go,” she said regretfully.

_“Do what you have to do,”_ Kathy replied.  _“I’ll see you when you get home.  Love you, Tosh.”_

“I love you too,” she sighed.  Toshiko reached over and touched her fingers to her screen, and Kathy mirrored the motion from her terminal. 

Toshiko sighed, glad to have spoken to her wife, and sorry she would need to get back to her work. 

 

**********

 

**_Interlude – Agent Johnson_ **

****

As far as it went, the cells at Cardiff CID weren’t the worst that Johnson had ever been tossed into.

And it seemed as if DCI Swanson’s threat to forget about her was practically true.  Only the meals she was given told Johnson that she was still remembered, at least to the blond-haired detective constable Swanson had called Davidson.  He brought her a tray at specific times of the day, usually with a smile on his face that Johnson wanted to assume was pleased, or else the copper was just that happy. 

It got on her nerves, but she could cope.

The sound of the door being unlocked had Johnson sitting up on the hard bunk.  She’d had her breakfast, and it was too early for lunch, so she reasoned it must be someone wanting to speak to her.  Although what anyone would want to say to her was beyond her.  She’d thought Swanson had been more than eloquent when she’d had Johnson arrested.

And yet, there was Swanson, with Davidson behind her.

“Lock us in,” the DCI said to her fellow detective.  Davidson nodded, serious for once, and as soon as Swanson was past the door it was shut and secured behind her.

“I would ask if you were comfortable,” Swanson began, leaning against the door and crossing her arms over her chest, “but I doubt it.”

“It’s not bad,” Johnson answered, resting against the wall and pulling one leg up onto the bunk, laying her forearm across her knee.  She knew she’d never get out of there, not with the entirety of Cardiff’s coppers between her and the front door.

Swanson didn’t react.  “I thought you might be interested in knowing that we also have your surveillance crew in custody, as well as the van they were hanging out in.”

Johnson wasn’t surprised.  Torchwood had been better than she’d thought, and their intel on the Cardiff branch of the organisation had been woefully poor.   Once they’d been unable to get access into the Hub itself, and their surveillance gear had proven mostly ineffective, it had only been a matter of time before Torchwood would have taken down her people.

“You should be pleased,” Johnson answered. 

“Not particularly, no,” Swanson said. 

Now that was a surprise.  Johnson would have sworn Swanson would have been gloating over having an MI5 surveillance team under lock and key.

“I’m so very tempted to cut the lot of you loose,” the detective went on.  “That way, when your bosses go down, they’ll take you and your horse and pony show down with them.”

Johnson hid her frown, defaulting to her bland face.  “You think Torchwood can really go against my organisation?”

“They’ve done a good job so far.”

Swanson had a point.

“But that’s not what I meant,” Swanson went on.  “I know you don’t have much of a clue what’s going on, but it’s ugly and I think MI5 isn’t the only group that has to worry about Torchwood.”

Johnson considered the woman’s words, while examining her closely.  Swanson was wearing a different blouse, but it was the same suit she’d had on when Johnson had first met with her, two days ago.  There were slight circles under her eyes, and a pale cast under her dark skin.  The DCI was exhausted and she looked like she’d been run all over Cardiff. 

Johnson wondered where she got her information from…for about two seconds.  Then she figured out that the detective had to be in touch with Sato, and Torchwood, and what she’d heard was pretty bad.

As for her premonition about being worried about Torchwood, Johnson wasn’t ready to concede that as yet.  She knew MI5; she knew what her bosses were capable of and what they could do to make life miserable for anyone even vaguely allied with Torchwood. 

And yet…nearly all of their information about Torchwood had been wrong.  No, not just wrong…grossly incorrect.  Nothing their so-called computer experts had been able to gather from Torchwood’s own systems had proven to be true, which meant that Sato, Torchwood’s in-house technician, had been several steps ahead of them for a long time…perhaps even years.  And MI5 hadn’t even been aware of the lot of misinformation they’d been fed.  Nothing about the at least two new members; nothing about Jones not running their front any longer; nothing about Harkness’s daughter; nothing about Swanson and Sato being spouses. 

It had been a clusterfuck from the very beginning.

Personally, Johnson was beginning to feel like she really didn’t owe her bosses all that much any longer.  They’d ordered her into a situation without confirming their intel was correct, basically throwing her to the wolves.  Torchwood had even gotten a hold of Patanjali, her would-be mole, and made it impossible for him to get a single foot into the Torchwood team, let alone their base.

Maybe she should let them take what was coming to them.

She came to a decision.

“What are you suggesting?” she asked curiously.

A slight smile decorated Swanson’s tired face.  “Well, I can either let you go,” she said, “and let you take your chances…or you can keep cooling your heels in my nice cells, and perhaps not get too caught up in the crossfire.  Of course, I can’t guarantee there won’t be charges, but maybe you won’t be facing treason like your bosses most likely will.”

Johnson weighed her choices.  She really wanted to know what was going on; what was so bad that at least MI5 would be coming down around her bosses’ collective ears.  But, if she didn’t know, she could claim she was simply following orders and that she’d been ignorant of what was going on.

Which she was, so that wouldn’t be such a stretch.

“Do you think you could ask Davidson for a nice hamburger for lunch?” she asked, not even trying to sound innocent.  “Maybe with cheese and pickles?”

The smirk on Swanson’s face told Johnson everything she needed to know.  “You want chips with that?”

“If he doesn’t mind.”

The DCI shook her head, a smile gracing her features.  “I’ll see what I can do.”  She rapped on the cell door.  “Personally, I was hoping you’d ask to be let out of here, but you’re not that stupid.”  The door opened, revealing Davidson.  She turned to look at her subordinate.  “Got a lunch order for you, Davidson.”

The younger detective pouted.  “I thought I’d graduated from fetching meals when I was promoted!”

“Quit your whining.”  Swanson stepped out of the cell, and then she turned to look back.  “Enjoy your stay with us,” With those final words, the cell door shut, the lock engaging.

Johnson relaxed.  She knew she’d made the right decision…to protect her own arse and let her superiors get what was coming to them.   Let Torchwood deal with the fallout.  Johnson had been impressed by them and found herself actually wishing them luck.

She laughed.  Certainly, it wasn’t a vacation, but she would make do.  Johnson was a survivor, and she would survive this as well. 

 

**********  

 

Tom was pulling the car into the car park when the radio announced that the children had begun chanting again.

Jack leaped out of the vehicle, storming into the flat as quickly as Martha could unlock the door, Ianto at his back.  He made his way over to the computer, waking up the screen to reveal an angry Toshiko.  “What’s going on?” he demanded.

_“Frobisher went in to talk to the alien,”_ his technician reported, a growl in her tone.  _“He tried to make a deal: sixty children, all of them failed asylum seekers.”_

An answering growl came from Ianto.  “No one would miss them.”

Jack felt his anger growing.  They were actually going to try to deal with the 456?  One child was too many, but sixty?  And what about the rest of the planet?  Were they also going to roll over and show their bellies to these bullies?

_“Apparently he also claimed that there would be a total of 6700, from all over the world,”_ Toshiko went on.

“No way,” Martha denied.  “The rest of the planet wouldn’t give in like that.  Frobisher has to be lying.”

Jack wanted to believe that, he really did.  With everything that had happened over the last couple of decades, so many of the world’s governments were refusing to capitulate to such demands.  It didn’t make sense for it to happen now.

_“The 456 refused, of course,”_ Toshiko went on.  _“That led to the children chanting again…this time numbers, and different ones for each country.  We’re certain it’s the exact number of kids each country would owe the 456.”_

“We need to get to Downing Street,” Ianto said sharply.  “Forget the scheduled meeting; they’ve started early.”

Jack stood.  “You’re right.  We don’t have any time to waste now.  We need to break into the Gold Command meeting now.”

“We’ll come with you,” Martha offered.

“You can drive us,” Jack said, “but Ianto and I are going to need you as back-up.  If anything happens you’ll need to get word back to the rest of the team.”

“But Jack –“

“No arguments, Martha.”  He rested his hands on her shoulders, grateful for her staunch support.  “Ianto and I are the only ones going in.  The team are working on plans to stop the 456, and if we’re taken into custody they’re going to need to know, in order to alter those plans if need be.  Besides,” he gave her a grin, “it’ll mean you’ll have to come and rescue us.”

“Count on it,” Martha said sternly.  “There’s no way we’d leave either of you in the lurch.”

Jack hugged her, glad that she and Tom were a part of his extended family.  “Now,” he said, pulling away, “let’s get going.”

“We’re with you,” Tom added. 

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

In the end, it only took a little strong-arming to get himself and Ianto into Downing Street, and up to the Gold Command meeting, which was in progress.

Jack had known that the Blank Page order out on him wouldn’t have been passed around for public consumption, as it were, and Torchwood was fairly well known – by name, at any rate – to several high-ranking members of staff.  He’d just played the Torchwood card a couple of times, and he and Ianto were standing outside the closed doors to the Cabinet room, where the Prime Minister and his people were currently meeting.

It was almost too easy, but Jack wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

They were stopped by two guards outside of the meeting room, who refused to let them pass.  Jack got right up in their personal space.  “I’m Captain Jack Harkness, and I’m with Torchwood,” he snapped.  “I’m above this government and that means I can go wherever I want.  So step aside or I’ll let you discuss it with Her Majesty.”

It was a bluff; they still hadn’t heard a thing from the Brigadier, and if he’d been able to get in to see the Queen.  They’d been hoping to have gotten some word by now, and since they hadn’t Jack seriously doubted that Sir Alistair had been able to take word of what was happening to Her Majesty.

The two men didn’t react for a second, but then they stepped aside.  Jack gave them both a smile that was more predatory than flirtatious, and threw open the door.

“– want to speak against that?” the unmistakable voice of Prime Minister Brian Green greeted them as they strode in.

“Actually,” Jack drawled, “I want to do just that.”

There was dead silence.

The entire Cabinet, plus John Frobisher, were seated around the table, various PA’s in chairs against the walls.  Jack stared at them in turn, not bothering to hide his disgust.  These were the men and women who were willing to barter away the future of this planet, and it sickened him.

“Harkness?” Green asked, surprised.

“Prime Minister Green,” Jack greeted him.  “I would say it’s a pleasure but since you’re currently selling out the human race I would be lying.”

“You have no idea what’s going on –“

“I don’t?” Jack growled.  “You mean you’re not doing dirty deals with an alien race who wants ten percent of Earth’s children?”

Green went from surprised to shocked, and Jack smiled internally.  He was pleased that he’d managed to knock the man off balance so thoroughly. 

“You see,” Jack went on, “we have your MI5 assassination and surveillance team in custody back in Cardiff.  We have recordings of everything that’s gone on at Thames House.  We have various orders from UNIT about troop movements throughout Great Britain.  We have proof that this government has made deals with an alien race.  Have you bothered to tell the complete and honest truth to the governments of the world, explaining what’s truly going on?”

“What happened to not giving in to terrorists?” Ianto asked quietly. 

Several of the people at the table weren’t looking at them, which Jack felt a slight glow of victory at that.  Frobisher was pale, but Green was a lovely shade of red.  “It’s the entire planet at risk,” Green answered harshly.  “It’s a bit of a different situation –“

“It’s really not,” Jack interrupted.  “Sure, the 456 have threatened to destroy the world, but do you really think they’d attempt to kill the very thing they’re demanding?  That would completely defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”

“Besides,” Ianto added, “you cannot give away something you do not own.”

“My Second is quite correct,” Jack said happily.  “Those children aren’t yours to give.”

“If you mean the parents –“ another Cabinet member, this one a woman, put in.

“Actually,” Jack said, “I’m not.  I’ll let Mr Jones explain.”

He stepped back, letting Ianto take centre stage.  They’d discussed what they were going to say, but really Jack had no idea just what arguments his mate was going to muster.  

Jack was very interested in the show that was about to begin.

Ianto glanced around the table; every eye was on him as he began.  “You seem to have not taken into consideration that humankind is not the only race on Earth, and that your actions affect others.”

“If you’re talking about the Silurians,” Green began.

“No,” Ianto denied, “because the Eldest Lizards would revel in humanity’s downfall.  They consider Earth as theirs, and that your kind has stolen it from them while they slept the ages away.  What is happening here would only please them.    No, I’m speaking of other races, ones that you dismiss as legend or myth and claim do not exist, one of them being the Fae.”

“The Fae?” Frobisher scoffed.  “You mean like fairies and stuff?”

“I do indeed, Mr Frobisher.”

“They don’t exist!”

“Actually they do,” Jack said, leaning forward.  “In fact, we just spoke to them this morning.  They’re quite put out about what you’re planning and they would like Torchwood to stop you.”

“You expect us to believe that?” Green demanded.

There was a small curl to Ianto’s lip, and it wasn’t a smile.  “You’re currently planning on giving millions of children to an alien race, and you’re calling me a liar?”  His voice was soft, but Jack could hear the low rumble of the dragon beneath the even tone.  “There is far more on this world than you know, Mr Green, and you cannot dismiss things out of hand.  You can easily believe in aliens, but not magic?”

Jack figured out what was coming next, and he grinned like a loon as the Word of Power shook the room like an earthquake.  He checked his vortex manipulator to make certain the door was sealed before going back to the show, not wanting Ianto to be interrupted.

It didn’t matter how many times he watched his mate use that single Word to show others the flow of time around them; he still got a kick out of it.  Ianto had once called it a parlour trick, but it was still impressive as the walls vanished around them, the ages of time flickering around the astonished Cabinet members, showing them ice and fire and water and earth as they skittered past, back toward the beginning. 

The show stopped, showing a great forest that surrounded them, ice heavy on the branches of trees and snow packing around their roots.  The large wooden table was incongruous amongst the old growth forest, the Cabinet members either standing or still seated in their chairs, too busy being shocked to move.

Jack shivered in the chill wind that whipped through the room, tempted to pull his greatcoat tighter against him.  He could just make out the monstrous glaciers in the distance, taller than most mountains, and he could hear ice creaking and grinding as the flow approached at an excruciatingly slow rate.

“Ten thousand years ago,” the dragon began, “this was what the Earth looked like, in the midst of its last great Ice Age.  The planet was on the brink of freezing, and humankind was on the edge of extinction.  They did the only thing they could: they approached the ancient race of Dragons that still lived among them, invoking the Pacts and Friendship they shared in order to save themselves.  Unfortunately, that power wasn’t within dragonkind, and so humankind felt the need to speak to the Fae, who had power over the elements and could hold back the ice that threatened to grind the world under its weight.”

It was perfectly silent in the room, and Jack watched avidly as the Cabinet members reacted to what was going on around them.  He remembered the first time he’d heard this story, although it had been without the light show.  He only hoped it would work.

“The Fae agreed to help,” Ianto went on, “but at a price: the Fae would be able to take certain children away to the Lost Lands, where they would become Fae as well.  These Chosen Ones would be the children that were abused, or ignored, or left to fall in between the cracks of society.  The Fae would in turn love them and accept them into their family.  The humans of that time accepted this deal, and the Fae held back the ice, so that your ancestors could survive.”

The magic slowly faded, and the walls of the Cabinet room slid back into view.  The air was chill with the ancient winter, a final reminder of what they had all seen.

“What the hell did you do?” Green exclaimed, turning to look at Ianto.  His eyes widened, and it was all Jack could do to hide his smirk.  “What are you?”

His mate’s eyes had changed into their dragon aspect, the slitted pupils and deep blue completely foreign to the men and women surrounding the table.   “I am the last of my kind,” Ianto said, his voice old and sad.  “I am a dragon, and humankind was responsible for my race’s near-genocide.  And yet, I fight for you all, because of the greatness I can see in you.  My father was present when the Fae and humans made their Pact, and I heard from him what details I know of it.”

It was obvious no one knew what to say to that.  It was a treat for Jack to see so many politicians struck dumb, and he was enjoying it even though he knew exactly how dire the situation was.

“There are conditions with this Pact,” the dragon added.  “If someone tries to purposely stop a Chosen from leaving when they have accepted a place among the Fae, then the Pact is broken and the Fae have the right to bury the Earth in ice and fire and storms, destroying the planet and its residents.  What you are about to do will raise the wrath of the Fae, because among those millions there will be Chosen Ones, and they will not accept you simply giving away what is theirs.”

“This is ludicrous,” one of the Cabinet members scoffed.  Jack recognised him as the Minister of Defence.  “You expect to come in here, using some sort of mumbo jumbo and expect us to believe there’s some other race out there that we’ve made an agreement with?  And that giving in to the 456 will destroy the Earth?  What sort of proof do you have, besides some weird contact lenses and a slideshow?”

Jack knew that his mate had stiffened at the words, but before he could make any form of rebuttal the unmistakable smell of roses filled the room.

The Fae once known as Jasmine Pierce appeared on top of the table in a flurry of red rose petals.

She’d changed, even more so from when they’d seen her just that morning.  Her eyes were still that alien black they’d been, and her teeth were also very much inhuman, but now she had a set of gossamer wings growing out of her back, thrusting up from tears in the uniform blouse she’d been wearing.  The rest of the school uniform she had on was intact, but the jacket had been looped about her waist and was tied there by the empty arms.

There was a round of gasps and exclamations around the table as Jasmine bowed toward Ianto.  _“Greetings, ancient one.”_ There was laughter in her strangely alien voice.

Ianto returned the bow, his own dragon eyes glittering with barely repressed humour.  “Greetings, Witness.  What brings you here?”

Jack was curious about that, as well.  The last being he’d expected to see breaking into the Gold Command meeting – or what had once been a Gold Command meeting, now reduced to sheer chaos – was one of the Fae.

_“Your magic sang to me,”_ Jasmine answered.  _“And I followed its call.”_ She looked around the room.  _“Are these the humans who would break our Pact?”_ She sounded almost gleeful, and Jack would have bought into that if it weren’t for the certain knowledge that, if the Pact was broken, it would be to the Fae’s detriment as well as the planet’s.

“Yes they are,” Ianto answered.  He waved a hand toward Brian Green, who had partially stood on Jasmine’s appearance.  “This is Brian Green, the Prime Minister of Great Britain.  Mister Prime Minister, this is the Fae known as the Witness, who was once a human child known as Jasmine Pierce.”

“You were…a human being?” Frobisher asked, his voice slightly stilted.

_“I was a Chosen One,”_ Jasmine deigned to answer, skipping across to stand just before Frobisher, leering down at him with her black, nearly opaque, eyes.  _“These knew of my true nature, and I am ever grateful for their aid in helping me to achieve my destiny.”_

Jack didn’t like thinking about how he and Ianto had had to turn the once completely human Jasmine Pierce over to the Fae, even though they’d had no choice.  It was too much like the twelve orphans in 1965, and he really didn’t think he’d ever truly get over what he’d been forced to do.

Green’s gaze fell on Jack, anger apparent in his eyes.  “You gave this child over to an alien race?  And you’re condemning us for doing the very same thing?”

“The Fae are one of the First Races,” Ianto corrected.  “They have been here since the beginning of the world, and will continue on until Earth burns for the final time.  They are no more alien than you or I am, Mr Green.”

“I was there, back in 1965,” Jack murmured.  “I helped give the 456 twelve children from that orphanage in Scotland.  But the difference between us is that I’ve hated myself for letting myself be forced into doing it, when I should have stood up and said no.  Now, I can fix my mistake and save the world at the same time.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” the Minister of Defence asked.

_“They have promised us,”_ Jasmine hissed.  _“They have promised us to try.  The how does not matter, ugly human.  Only the Pact matters.”_

Jack tried to take pleasure out of the Minister bristling at being called ugly, but he really couldn’t.  “My team and I are working on various plans to get the 456 to leave,” he answered.  “This is the same team that were forced out of Cardiff by your MI5 toadies, I might add, and yet they’re still willing to do what it takes in order to clean up your mess.  You should be grateful that we’re trying our damnedest to save this planet, because if you had succeeded in running us to ground you all would be in serious danger of destroying Earth, one way or the other.  You should have called Torchwood immediately upon receiving the first signals that the 456 were returning.”

“We’re the alien experts,” Ianto added, his eyes still in dragon-form.  “We’re the ones who believe we may have a way to save the children…and the planet.”

“How do you even know all of this?” Frobisher inquired.  “You’ve been cut out of the loop completely!”

Jack smirked.  “Let’s just say our computer wizard is better than your computer wizard and leave it at that.  As I said, we have recordings of all meetings with the 456 in Thames House, and we’re not afraid to distribute them.  I’m quite sure Her Majesty would be interested in what’s going on behind her back…as would be the rest of the world.”

“We have contacts in several international law-enforcement agencies,” Ianto said.  “We could very easily disseminate the information we have to nearly every country on Earth.  I am curious, though, how you got anyone else to go along with this mad scheme of yours, especially the United States and Israel.  They both have such a hard line on acts of terrorism, after all.”

“And I doubt you’ve even taken consequences into consideration,” Jack went on, not bothering to let anyone answer Ianto’s questions.  “I mean, even if the Fae weren’t in the picture, did you really think that parents all over the world would sit still if their children mysteriously vanished?  And if it got out beyond Earth?  There are quite a few alien races out there who would love Earth to show any sort of weakness.  Not just Daleks and Cybermen, but the Sycorax had their asses handed to them by us.  Don’t you think they’d love to get revenge?  If one whiff of humans giving into an alien race’s demands made its way to the many enemies we’ve made over the centuries, they would be baying for blood and I doubt Earth would stand a chance.  We can’t even claim the protection from the Shadow Proclamation, since the proposal I sent to your office, Mr Green, that we negotiate some sort of accord with the Architects was summarily dismissed.  We could have called on the Judoon and they would have sent the 456 packing under several galactic laws they’re actually breaking.”  Jack had been furious when the proposal had been sent back, denied.  There were so many advantages of aligning themselves with the Shadow Proclamation, but none of that had mattered. 

“Plus, do any of you expect to still be in power after everything is said and done?” Ianto asked.  “You’ll be lucky if you’re not all tried for treason.”

“Ianto has a point,” Jack said.  He was only slightly surprised to see that at least two thirds of the table hadn’t seemed to consider that.  “The British people – and Her Majesty, of course – aren’t going to sit still for the wholesale kidnapping of hundreds of thousands of children from their homes.”

“We know you seem to have been keeping the Queen in the dark about what you’re doing,” the dragon added. 

“She’s not gonna appreciate that when she does find out,” Jack went on, “and she has enough contacts that it’s going to be soon.  Maybe even before you can start whatever system you’re going for in choosing the children you plan on handing over.  I’m assuming it’s along the same lines as before: children that you consider not useful to society.”

_“All children are precious,”_ Jasmine snarled.  _“Not a one is unworthy.”_

“She has a point.  So you decide that kids who you don’t think will add something to the future…what if you’re wrong?”  Jack pressed inexorably.  “What if you hand over the next Albert Einstein?  Or some other child who might have been an ordinary student but who blooms later on in life, and would have been responsible for a great discovery that would have benefited mankind?”

“What do you think we should do?” Green shot back.  Beside him, Frobisher had his head in his hands, and the rest of the Cabinet didn’t look much better.

Jack leaned his hands on the table, staring Green down.  “Let us do our jobs.  Call off your attack dogs and back off.  This is why Torchwood was created, and cutting us out of the picture was a stupid thing to do.  Who knows…if we’d had access to information that very first day, we might not be having this conversation, and the children would be safe.”

Green’s eyes darted between Jack and Ianto, not being able to settle. Jack could practically read his mind, watching the gears whirling as he put together what he’d learned, and not just about the Fae.  There was something in his gaze when he looked at Ianto, and it sent a slight shiver down Jack’s spine.  It had been a risk for Ianto to reveal himself, but it had needed to be done, in order to get their point across, that there was more on the Earth than what they were considering.  This had, of course, been before Jasmine had shown up; if they’d known she was going to do that, revealing Ianto’s true nature might not have been necessary.

But still, it had been done, and for the best intentions.  These people had to understand that it was more than just humanity who was involved in the decisions that would be made that day. 

“What do you need?” Frobisher asked, looking up.  His face was pale, as if he were finally considering all the consequences of their actions these last four days…and of 1965. 

Green turned to glare at him, but Frobisher didn’t back down.  Jack had to give the man props for finally standing up.

“We need access to the alien,” he answered.  Jack straightened.  “We need any and all information you have on the 456, anything that wasn’t in the Thames House computer systems.  Call off MI5 and UNIT.”  They really didn’t know what UNIT was up to, but the troop movements were very worrying.  “And, we also need everything you have on the Archangel Network.”

That caused a bit of a furore.  “What the hell do you need that for?” the Minister of Defence demanded.  “It was shut down after Saxon’s death.”

“I know,” Jack said, “because I spoke to Colonel Mace about it at the time.  As for what we need it for…my technician believes she can form some sort of blocking signal using the network, one that will keep the 456 from influencing the children.”  Jack knew it was a longshot, but it was worth it, and he had complete faith in their Toshiko.

That announcement earned him several different looks, most of them tinged with hope.  “That would be Dr Sato?” Frobisher asked.

Ianto nodded.  “She’s the very best.  If she had the information she needs in order to reprogram the network, then she thinks there’s every chance it could work.”

Jack was uneasy about anyone knowing about Toshiko, and he knew that Ianto felt the same, but since Frobisher already knew she was Torchwood there was no use in denying it.  “Toshiko is already in the Thames House system, so you can link up there to transfer the information.  Once she has it she can begin work, and the sooner we can kick those sons of bitches off our world.”

“And what about their threat to destroy the planet?” one of the Cabinet members asked.  “They can still strike at us from space, since we haven’t been able to detect their spaceship.”

“If the 456 can transmit through the children,” Ianto replied, “then what’s stopping us from transmitting back up to them?  They’ve left themselves open to us, even though we’re quite certain they don’t realise it.  Once we can block their signals it’s just one step from at least disabling their systems.”

Jack knew his mate was onto something, and he would have to have Ianto speak to Toshiko as soon as they were done here.  It was something they hadn’t really considered, their main goal being protecting the children.  But if Ianto was correct – and Jack was in no doubt of that – then they could force the 456 to leave.

“So?” he challenged.  “Are you going to let us do our jobs and stop trying to block us at every turn?”

 


	21. Chapter 21

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

Toshiko sat, stunned, as information began scrolling across her screens.

It was everything that had been recorded about the Archangel Network, including what looked like Saxon’s very own notes on the project.

When Rhys had called her back to the computers, she’d thought it was just something that her search programs had located.  Not this…wealth of information coming from she didn’t know where, and it gave her hope for everything turning out alright.

“What the hell is that?” Rhys asked, from the chair next to hers.

“It’s what I’ve been trying to find,” she answered faintly, as a huge grin spread across her face.  She turned to look at him.  “I think we might actually have a chance now.”

Her friend returned the grin.  “That’s great news!  D’you think Jack and Ianto had anything to do with it?”  He might not have any clue as to what she was talking about, but his very faith in her being able to decipher it was staggering.

“I’m sure they have.”  It made sense, since the last thing she’d known the pair had been going to Downing Street to crash the Gold Command meeting.  “Can you find Owen for me?”

“You got it.”  Rhys rose, resting a hand on her shoulder.  “I’ll have him back here in a tick.”

Toshiko heard him leave, and she went back to simply staring at the information that now filled her screens.  She shook her head incredulously, knowing that her friends were responsible for sending this on to her.  She used her mouse to navigate through the influx of forms and schematics that kept popping up, and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

By the time Owen appeared – along with the rest of her team, curious to know what was going on – Toshiko had become absorbed in the intricacies of the Archangel Network.  It truly was a thing of beauty, a combination of human and alien technology created by an insane Time Lord bent on destroying the universe.  She’d lived through the paradox year, and yet she could truly appreciate what the Master had done with the resources he’d had.  This very network had subtly controlled their entire planet for an entire year, and would have gone on doing so if not for the Doctor and Torchwood.

At the time, she hadn’t been all that interested in seeing what had gone into building it, and had left it mostly up to UNIT, the Doctor, and the Ministry of Defence to shut things down and gather every bit of paper on the project, locking it away from prying eyes and only using bits of programming to improve the subwave.  Now, she could see that she’d made a mistake, that she should have taken much more interest in the Archangel Network.  Toshiko could have done so much with this…Torchwood could have had its own secure mobile network all along, and MI5 could never have accessed it so easily.

After everything was done, she was going to speak with Jack about using the network for their own purposes.  Quite honestly, she was surprised that no one had done it already instead of leaving it shut down, the satellites mostly inert.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” Owen’s voice interrupted her perusal. 

“Jack and Ianto seem to have worked a miracle,” she answered, not bothering to hide the awe in her voice.  “They got me everything on the Archangel Network.”

“Bloody hell,” the medic murmured.  “I’ll never underestimate them again…only don’t tell them that, okay?”

“No promises,” Patrick answered, his own voice full of the smile Toshiko couldn’t see, with him standing behind her. 

“Can you make it work?” Alice asked.

Toshiko nodded slowly.  “I think so, yes.  We managed to get all sorts of readings from the last set of chanting, and we have a pretty good idea just what the signal they’re using entails.”

“I’ll get what I have,” Owen said, moving away.  “We can get the algorithms started.” 

She worked her way through several of the schematics, with Patrick’s help when he suggested she send some of the windows to one of the other screens so he could see what he might make of them.  The rest of the team hovered, especially when Owen got back with the medical information they’d managed to glean the last time the children had been taken over.  He commandeered the third screen that had been set up, and Toshiko got the readings up and dedicated an auxiliary keyboard for Owen to use.

The Archangel Network was beautiful.  There was no other word to describe it.  Toshiko knew that the Master had been insane and evil but she couldn’t help but admire him, just a little, while she sorted through various files and notes on the actual network.  What the Time Lord had created should have been used to improve the world, but instead he’d used it to conquer and destroy, which was a shame.

She didn’t know how long she’d been examining what she had on her screen, but Toshiko was eventually interrupted by Patrick calling her name.  She acknowledged him without turning in her chair, but what he said had her spinning and looking over his shoulder at the screen he was working at.

“I think I’ve found the telepathic circuitry,” was what he said.

Patrick was their weapons expert, and he was very good at what he did.  He had an instinctual flair for finding out what various weapons did, even if something was one or not, but that didn’t translate really to anything beyond guns and bombs and such.  But he could tell what was alien and what was human, and what he was staring at was obviously alien.

But what gave away that these were the telepathic circuits… “Owen,” Toshiko said, her own eyes not wanting to accept what she was looking at, “are those brain cells?”

Owen joined them at their perusal of the screen, and the medic swore, although the tone of the swear contained a heaping spoonful of awe.  “Yeah,” he confirmed, “looks like it, but are they biological?” 

Patrick shook his head.  “I have no idea.”

“It would make sense if they were,” Toshiko replied.  Her eyes tracked along the precisely lined-up rows of cells, creating a network of its own across the screen. 

A chair squeaked, and Owen was practically leaning over Patrick’s body to get close to the monitor.  His finger traced the cellular structure as he read what the schematic said.  “If these are artificial, then it’s science way beyond anything we’ve seen.”

“It’s Gallifreyan,” Toshiko pointed out.

“But that wasn’t the Master’s specialisation,” Owen pointed out.  “At least that’s what the Doctor claimed…unless he lied about it.”  He frowned.  “I have no idea what Time Lord neural cells look like, but I’m willing to bet it’s not this.  These are human, but they’ve been augmented in some way.”

That made sense, since the telepathic signal had been meant to control the human race. 

“There are sensory neurons here, too,” Owen went on.  “That doesn’t make sense, since there’s nothing for them to feel…yeah, the axons have been truncated, but why have the afferent neurons included unless…” Owen’s voice faded out, and Toshiko could have sworn her friend had stopped breathing.

“What is it, Owen?”  Patrick asked quietly.

Owen was silent, and Toshiko was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to answer, when he finally said, “These aren’t artificial.  They had to have been harvested from someone.  Whoever built this wouldn’t have need for some of these if they had been created in some sort of Time Lord test tube.  These brain cells were taken wholesale from a donor.”

Toshiko felt ill, and she could tell that both Patrick and Owen felt the same way.  The Master had taken human brain cells and used them to create this network.  What had happened to the so-called donors?  Had they been killed?  Knowing the Master and his contempt for humanity, that was most likely the case.  It was just one more crime to lie at the evil Time Lord’s feet.

Well, at least these poor souls could now help them save the Earth’s children.

“There’s gonna be a problem,” Owen said, cutting into her relief.

“What?” she had to know.

“There’s no telling if these…circuits,” there was a slight hesitation that only someone who knew Owen would catch, “are still viable.  Since they’re genuine neurons, they most likely would have degraded once the network was shut down.  Whatever had been used to keep them…fresh…would have been shut down as well.”

Which meant that the very thing they’d need to create their blocker could be dead.

“We’ll just have to reactivate the network and see,” Toshiko said firmly.  If they were, indeed, still active then after everything she would make certain they were…given the respect the victims deserved.  If not…then she could only pray that their donors hadn’t suffered.

“Can you turn it back on?” Patrick asked.

“Yes, I can.”

With those words, Toshiko turned back to her computer.  She’d been checking over the activation protocols when Patrick had brought the neural network to her attention, and it was relatively easy to configure the codes that would bring the Archangel Network online.  It would only take her a short time to do what needed to be done…

There was a chime from her terminal, and without looking Toshiko sent it to Patrick’s open screen.  She heard him greet Jack as she worked, creating the special logins needed to gain access to the network and to start it up once more.  Then she could make what changes she’d need to counter the 456’s signal.

_“I take it you received all the information on the Archangel Network?”_ Jack’s voice was tinged with laughter.

“How could you tell?” Patrick bantered back.

“Jack,” Owen put in, “we got it, but there might be a problem.”  Toshiko heard Owen explaining about the human neurological material they’d discovered was a part of the network, and how it might no longer be viable.  The disgust in his tone was plain.

Toshiko didn’t blame him at all.

As she worked, she once again wished she’d paid more attention to the Archangel Network after the Master’s downfall.  She would have known about the human neurons before, and perhaps could have done something about it before it had come to this.  But then, the telepathic circuitry was what they needed for this, to block the signal that the 456 were using to control the children.   

The algorithm she needed was done before she even realised she’d finished, and she turned to glance over at Jack and Ianto, who were both looking out of Patrick’s monitor.  Both of them looked tired, and Toshiko could relate.  It had been a long few days for everyone.  “I have what I need to reactivate the network,” she told her two friends. 

_“Do it, Toshiko,”_ Jack ordered.  _“We need to know if it works, and if we can use it to defeat the 456.”_

She went back to her screen, and looked through her work once more.  When she was satisfied that everything was accurate, Toshiko pressed the ‘enter’ key.

Lines of code began streaming across her monitor, almost too fast for her to make out.  But Toshiko knew what was there, and she watched avidly as it made its progress from her system and up to the satellite network in the upper atmosphere.

Suddenly, the flow stopped, and her screen began pixelating out, until a stylised “A” filled the monitor.  Toshiko couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across her face.  “We’re in.”

Patrick clapped her on the shoulder, while Owen said, “Nice work, darling.”  Jack and Ianto echoed the same sentiments as Toshiko began working once more.

She brought up the diagnostics for the network, frowning as she watched the readings coming in.  “Powering up,” she reported.  “Several of the satellites are reading as damaged, but they’re still holding their orbit.  I can’t tell how badly things are, yet.”

_“Keep at it, Tosh,”_ Ianto said soothingly.  _“Jack and I are heading into Thames House in a bit, but we wanted to make sure you had what you needed.”_

“I’ll get it working,” she promised.  Then she spun in her chair, facing her friends.  “You both be careful.  We don’t know what the 456 are capable of.  You could be walking into a trap.”

_“Of course it could be a trap,”_ Jack said cheerfully.  _“Which is why we’re gonna have Martha and Tom as back-up.”_

Martha and Tom popped in over Jack and Ianto’s shoulders and waved, although Martha looked a little put out.  Toshiko wondered if it wasn’t because of Jack’s flippant comment.  She couldn’t blame her if it was.

_“When things are back to normal,”_ Jack said, _“I want an analysis on what it would take to get the network completely operational, minus the telepathic circuits.  I don’t trust UNIT anymore, and the MoD is just as bad.”_

“No problem,” Toshiko assured him.  “We can also use the network to make our own mobiles completely secure.  And…whoever the Master took the brain cells from, I want to make sure they rest in peace.”

Jack nodded. _“Agreed. Do what you need to do, Toshiko.  Ianto and I will back you one hundred percent.”_

She’d had no doubt that they would, but it was good to hear it. 

_“Owen,”_ Jack continued, _“if the telepathic circuit remains viable, after we send the 456 packing I want you to come up with some ways we can…deactivate that part of the network and to put them to rest.  I know they can’t feel anything, and that the…donors are most likely long dead…”_

“You got it,” the medic answered.  “It’s just fucking wrong what the Master did, Jack.”

_“It is.”_ Those two words were filled with anger, and Toshiko knew that her friend was remembering just what he’d had to suffer under the Master’s control.  The Master had been evil incarnate, and while Toshiko would never usually think it, she was glad the bastard was dead.

_“We’ll report back when we get back from Thames House,”_ Jack promised.  _“Although I’m sure you’ll all be watching the show.”_

_“Hopefully we can convince the 456 to leave us be,”_ Ianto said, _“but I don’t see that happening.  Still, we have to try.”_

“Will the Fae be able to save that poor kid?” Owen asked.

_“They’re going to try,”_ the dragon answered.  _“The air isn’t something they can breathe, but if they’re given the opening…”_

Before today, the idea of giving another child to the Fae would have been something Toshiko would have disagreed with, but now…this would be the only way to rescue that boy, and she was willing to take it. 

_“We’re heading out,”_ Jack said.  _“Be back soon.”_

If Toshiko had known what was going to happen in the next several hours, she would have begged them not to go.

 

 

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

The news on the radio was droning on as Tom wove their way through downtown London traffic.  Ianto had half an ear to it – the newsreader was going on about why the children had been chanting about what seemed to have been ten percent of the number of children in Great Britain, and how the government was being too quiet on the explanation front – and the other ear was on the confrontation Jack was having with Martha.

“You and Ianto can’t go in there alone,” their friend was arguing.  “The 456 have already proven that they know how to create vaccines for certain illnesses.  What’s to say they don’t have something nasty up their sleeves?”

“I think we can assume they do,” Jack replied.   He was leaning back in the seat, his arms crossed…but Ianto could see the tension in his shoulders, and was pretty certain Martha could as well.  “That’s why you and Tom can’t come in with us, Martha.  If the 456 try something, then we have two doctors ready outside to do what needs to be done.”

“You need protective gear, Jack!  Biohazard suits…at the very least, personal respirators!”

“I’ll come back from anything they might try.”

“And what about Ianto?” Martha challenged.

“I am immune to most human illnesses,” the dragon pointed out.  “It’s safe to say that anything the 456 might let loose in the building would be useless against my physiognomy.”

“ _Most_ human illnesses,” Martha returned.  “I know for a fact that you can catch a cold…I had to deal with dragon snot on our walk around the world, and it wasn’t pretty.”

Ianto snorted.  She did have a point, but it wasn’t as bad as she was intimating.  “I sincerely doubt the 456 would deliberately infect an entire building with the common cold.”

“That’s not the point!  What if they happen to have something that your immune system can’t fight off?  We have no idea what they’re really capable of.  Sure, they don’t know you’re a dragon, but they could get lucky!”

Alright, Martha was making some sense.  “I’ll tell you what:  when we get into Thames House, I’ll pick up a gas mask.  I’m sure they’ll have at least one on hand, them being a government agency and all.  Will that make you feel better?”

Martha sighed.  “Yeah, it will.  I’m sorry, Ianto, but I just can’t trust the aliens to not take a lucky shot at you and hit something we can’t fix.  And I know that Jack doesn’t want to lose you, not this soon after your mating.”

Jack’s hand curled around his, and Ianto met his mate’s eyes.  There was gratitude in those blue depths, and the dragon realised that Jack had let Martha argue with him knowing that she was more likely to talk him into anything.   If Jack had brought it up, Ianto would have most likely called him a worry wart and had dismissed his mate’s concerns.  But Martha, being a medical professional and familiar with his dragon physiognomy, would have more weight in convincing him to take precautions.

There was a reason Ianto loved Jack and this was one of them: stepping aside when he knew there was someone more likely to talk Ianto into something.  Yes, it irritated him to no end but it was simply a sign that his mate knew him so well.

The traffic was backed up, gridlocked per the radio.  After five minutes of not moving, Jack opened his door.  “We’re going to continue on foot.”

Ianto followed suit, glad to be moving.  Tom and Martha didn’t look happy, but they really needed to get to Thames House, and waiting in traffic meant the longer that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet would have more time to think, and to come up with cover stories and such to explain the loss of ten percent of the Earth’s children.  Ianto didn’t trust them one bit; they would still be plotting, certain that Torchwood would fail.  Whatever story they came up with they would put into play at the slightest sign that things were going to go wrong.

And they could very well go bad.  The 456 were a practically unknown entity; what they knew came from what the aliens had shared, which wasn’t much.  They couldn’t know how the alien in Thames House would react to either of them delivering an ultimatum.  They could also agree, but then come after the children later.  Everything was up in the air, but Ianto knew they had to at least make them understand that they had no rights to Earth’s children.

“Get to Thames House as quickly as you can,” Jack said, shutting the car door.  “Ianto and I will go on ahead.”

“But Jack –“ Martha exclaimed.

“No Martha, there are no ‘buts’.  This has gone on long enough.”  He turned to her, grasping her shoulders.  “If anything goes wrong, secondary protocol.  Got it?”

Martha gave them both a stubborn look.  “You can’t expect Tom and me to just leave you!”

“That’s exactly what we expect,” Ianto said, moving to stand next to her.  “We need to know you and Tom are going to be safe.”  He didn’t want to think this could be the last time he ever talked to her, but the thought just didn’t want to go away. 

This was their job, however.  It was what he and Jack did.  The entire planet was in danger, and it was their responsibility to walk into Thames House and make a stand.

“Martha,” Tom said, taking her hand and tugging her toward him, “you have to let them go.  Both Jack and Ianto need to try and stop this before things get so much worse.  I know it’s hard for you to accept, but we’ll just get in the way.  They can’t do what they need to do if they’re worrying about us.  I think you know that.”

Martha looked at her husband mulishly, but Ianto knew she would give in.  Tom was right; having their friends with them in Thames House would be a distraction. 

“We need to go,” Jack murmured. 

Martha sniffed, and then hugged them both tightly, as if she wasn’t going to let go.  “You both are walking into danger.”

Ianto tightened his arms around her.  “It’s what we do,” he answered quietly.

“We need to do this,” Jack added.  “The children are more important than anything else.  We have to stop the 456.”

“Alright.”  Martha looked resigned.  “Tom and I will try to get to Thames House as best we can.   If anything happens…”

“Secondary protocol,” Ianto reminded her gently.

She nodded.  “But only if there’s no other thing we can do.”

“Last resort,” Tom reiterated.

Ianto didn’t like it, but he could understand why their friends would feel that way.  He knew Martha and Tom would stay in the area until there was no sign of them coming back out. 

But this was them…this was Torchwood.  He and Jack _were_ Torchwood, and they would do whatever was needed in order to stop these aliens from stealing humankind’s children.   This was their duty.

Together, dragon and immortal strode down the blocked street.  Ianto couldn’t see Thames House from where they were, but he knew where it was, and he knew it wouldn’t take them too long to get there.  He wasn’t afraid, per se; it was more of an apprehension, of walking into unknown circumstances and knowing that anything could occur.   The small hairs at the back of his very human neck were standing on end, and Ianto would have said something was shivering his scales if he’d been in dragon form.  Whatever happened in the next several hours could very well determine the fate of the entire planet, and while they’d felt that pressure before, this time there was something different, and Ianto could feel it in his bones. 

There was a tingle of magic in the air, and he put it down to the presence of the Fae, or at least of Jasmine Pierce.  Ianto knew she at least was watching closely, waiting to see what would happen at Thames House.  Then he realised that this would be a fixed point; no matter what occurred between Torchwood and the 456, these next several hours were meant to be, that they would colour the fate of the planet.  He resisted the urge to shudder; instead, he reached out and took his mate’s hand. 

Jack’s warm fingers curled around his, and Ianto met his curious look with a smile.  No matter what did happen, the dragon had his mate, and nothing else mattered to him.  They were walking into Thames House together, and as far as Ianto cared they would be leaving together.  It was their destiny.

They’d cut down an alley, and as they emerged Thames House came into view.  There was nothing about it that telegraphed the fact that it would be the place where the battle for Earth’s children would begin…and most likely end, one way or the other.  It was a relatively plain structure, built of stone and situated between two smaller government buildings, looking nothing like a place where great events would take place. 

Jack strode right up to the front doors, throwing them open and ushering Ianto inside.  There was a guard desk just off to the side, and together they made their way up to it.  “Jack Harkness,” he addressed the guard.  “Ianto Jones.  Torchwood.  You should be expecting us.”

The guard simply stared at Jack for a few seconds, and then he nodded.  “Yes, I was informed you would be coming.”

Ianto glanced around, and he grew angry as he saw various employees moving around the foyer and up the stairs to the floors above as if nothing was going on.  “Why hasn’t this building been cleared?” he demanded.  How could Frobisher and Green risk these people like that?  The 456 could have unleashed something into the building’s aircon systems and hundreds of innocents could have died.

Jack’s face darkened as he noticed as well.  “Get everyone out of here,” he barked, the captain coming to the fore.  “I want this place evacuated within the next ten minutes.”

The guard rose, his own face going red.  “Now wait a minute –“

“No, you wait a minute,” Jack interrupted.  “There is something very dangerous on the thirteenth floor, and these people are in the line of fire.  Get them out ASAP before something happens.”

Reacting to Jack’s tone, the guard reached out for the phone on the desk.  He spoke a few words into the receiver, and an alarm began blaring throughout the building.  Instantly, those around them started moving toward the doors, and Ianto instantly relaxed as the evacuation continued.

“Thank you,” Jack said.  “Now, we’re going to the thirteenth floor.  No one is to come up there; no one is to make any action that isn’t ordered by me.  Is that understood?”

The man looked uneasy.  “I should really speak to my superiors…”

“Your superiors are the ones responsible for putting the lot of you directly in danger,” Jack spat.  “Do you really trust them to make the right decision?”

The guard was obviously torn between his usual orders and the notion that there was something going on in Thames House that could be a potential danger.  Ianto decided to give him something else to think about.  “We also will need two gas masks, or personal respirators…whatever you have in the building.”

That caused the man to go pale.  “Is this a gas attack?”

His reaction gave Ianto the idea that he knew just what a gas attack could do to the human body.  The guard was certainly in shape enough to have been in the military, and since he was working at Thames House the dragon was willing to bet Special Forces.   “That could become a possibility,” he admitted.  “It’s another reason we wanted the place cleared out.”

If he’d known that would have made the guard give them all the cooperation they’d needed, Ianto would have told him that at the very beginning.  “I have a personal respirator,” he admitted, leaning over and digging into his desk.  He pulled out the rubberised mask and air bottle from one of the drawers, handing it to Ianto.  “There are masks on each floor; they’re in special niches and you can’t miss them.”

‘Thank you,” the dragon said sincerely.  “Now, we need you to make certain everyone is out of the building, and then leave yourself.”

“Yes sir.”  The man saluted both Jack and Ianto.  Jack returned it, and together the mates went deeper into the foyer, where they found the bank of lifts.  Jack pushed the call button, and they waited a few seconds before the doors opened, releasing a large group of MI5 employees into the foyer and out of the building.

Jack waved Ianto into the lift, and the dragon stepped inside, followed by his mate.  Jack hit the button for the thirteenth floor, and the lift slid smoothly upward.   “You know I didn’t need a mask,” Jack murmured.

“You may come back,” Ianto retorted, “but that doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing you die.”  He hated that Jack sometimes took his life so cheaply, and would continue to keep trying to convince him otherwise.  Yes, he knew Jack didn’t like dying but that didn’t give him the excuse to throw the lives he had away.

A hand touched his elbow, and when Ianto looked at his mate he saw the obviously fondness in Jack’s blue eyes.  “I know you don’t like it when I die, but sometimes it’s necessary.”

“I understand that,” the dragon sighed.  “But this time there are masks available and you don’t have to die if the 456 do release something into the building.  Besides, if you used one that would mean you can still act even if something _did_ occur.”

Jack smiled; not the flirty, brilliant thing he showed the outside world, but the quiet, loving expression that was for Ianto alone.  “You know how much it means that you care about me like that?”

Ianto returned the smile.  “I do, Jack.  And I always will care.” His lips quirked upward into a smirk.  “Does this mean you’ll be collecting a mask before we go into that room?”

His mate rolled his eyes.  “Yes, sir,” he answered, his voice accepting.

Ianto elbowed him.  “You’ll find that’s my line.”

The door dinged, opening out onto the thirteenth floor.  Ianto wasn’t superstitious that way, but something shivered down his spine as he took in the emptiness of the area and his mind whispered to him that this was dangerous, that it was wrong and that nothing good was going to come of them being there, at that time.

Their footsteps echoed on the tile as they walked toward the room where the 456 had taken up ‘residence’.  Jack managed to find one of the gas masks that the guard had mentioned, and it dangled from his fingers as they moved.  Ianto couldn’t miss the somewhat haunted look on his face, and the dragon remembered the story of how his mate had met the Doctor.  _Gas mask zombies_ was the term Jack had used to describe the poor souls infected with the misprogrammed nanogenes.

The room was dominated by the tank, the gas within glowing blue in the gloom of the place.  Black and white tiles made the floor into an enormous chessboard, and Ianto couldn’t help but think that was appropriate.

Chairs and tables had been set against the far wall, and two cameras on tripods were pointed toward the tank and the middle of the floor respectively.  Both were active, judging from the red lights on them, and Ianto fought the urge to wave, knowing that their team were on the other side of the feed.  Green and the Cabinet were as well, and the dragon had no desire to even tacitly acknowledge them.

The tank rose to the ceiling, reinforcing steel holding the glass in place.   A shadow moved within the sickly lit gas, and Ianto had to swallow back the bile that threatened to rise in his throat.

The 456 was in front of them, and it was time to make their stand.

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

**_18 September 2009_ **

 

Jack stepped forward.  “I’m Captain Jack Harkness,” he introduced himself, his voice hard.  “”I’ve dealt with you lot before.  I’m here to explain why, this time, you’re not going to get what you want.”

“You yielded in the past,” the strange, electronic voice given to the alien by whatever translation matrix they were using hissed from the speaker beside the tank.

Ianto barely kept himself from shivering at it.  It was inhuman, and didn’t belong on his world.  The very tones of it made him want to transform and tear the creature to pieces. 

“Yeah, I know that,” Jack answered.  “I was there, in 1965.  I was a part of that trade, which is why I’m never going to let it happen again.”

“Explain.”

Jack took another step forward.  “There’s a saying here on Earth, a very old and wise friend taught me it: an injury to one is an injury to all.  And, when people act according to that philosophy then the human race is the finest species in the Universe.”

Ianto wasn’t sure he liked Jack quoting the Doctor, since the Time Lord had made it clear where both of them stood when they’d met him again when the Daleks had stolen the Earth, but he had to admit the words were true.  Not that he enjoyed admitting that the Doctor was right.  “Never mind the philosophy,” he growled.  “What he’s saying is that you’re not getting a single child.  Whatever deal you’ve made, it’s off.”

“I liked the philosophy,” Jack pouted.

To anyone else, it would seem that his mate wasn’t taking this seriously at all.  But to Ianto, who knew Jack better than anyone, it was obvious that the banter was there in an attempt to throw the 456 off balance, to make the alien think that they were just that strong that they weren’t concerned about how things were going to turn out.

“I gathered,” Ianto replied, winking.

“You yielded in the past,” the 456 intoned.  “You will do so again.”

“We were wrong to do so,” Jack said.  “It didn’t matter that the numbers were so small…we should never have capitulated.  We’ve learned from that and it’s just not going to happen this time.”

“Besides,” Ianto added, “you have no claim on the Earth’s children.  Another race has a previous claim and they will not give that up so easily.”

“Previous claims do not matter to us,” the alien refuted.  “We recognise no claim but our own.”

“That’s too bad,” Jack answered, “because you don’t want to get on the bad side of the Fae.”

“Besides,” Ianto added, “we’ve also recorded everything that’s gone on in this room: the negotiations, your demands…everything.  We aren’t afraid to release those recordings to the public if you do not leave now.”

“You have yielded in the past,” the 456 repeated.  “You will do so again.”

“Saying it over and over isn’t going to make it true,” Jack snorted.  “When the people find out what’s going on, you’ll have over six billion angry human beings taking up arms to fight you.  That might be a fight you think you can win, but in the end the human race will rise up to protect their children.  And if we have to lead them into battle, we will.”

Ianto was so very proud of his mate.  Jack was making a stand, just as he always would in defence of his adopted home, and the dragon would always stand next to him, to support him in his fight.  It was how it should be.  “And it won’t just be the human race fighting back against you,” he said.  “There are races on this world far older that humankind, and they will also take up their weapons in order to protect their world.  You cannot win this.”

“The human infant mortality rate is 29,158 deaths per day.  Every three seconds, a child dies.  The human response is to accept and adapt.”

“Because there is nothing they can do to prevent it,” Ianto said.  “This, they can fight against.”

“And we’re adapting right now,” Jack added.  “We will make this a war if we have to.”

“Then the fight begins,” the alien responded.

Ianto glanced over at Jack, and his mate looked confused.  The dragon couldn’t blame him, because there didn’t seem to be anything happening…

Oh, of course.

“Jack, put on your gas mask,” the dragon ordered, fitting the personal respirator over his own face.  As it settled into place, alarms began going off in the building, red-tinged lighting flashing on in warning.

“You wanted a demonstration of war,” the 456 explained.  “A biological weapon has been released into the building.  Everyone within will die.”

“Then your demonstration has failed,” Jack said, his voice muffled by the mask, “because we evacuated the building before coming up here.  Unlike the bureaucrats you’ve been dealing with, we expected you to pull something like this.”

The 456 thrashed against the side of the tank, spitting goo all over the glass.  It didn’t seem very happy at all, and Ianto grinned through his own mask at the alien’s fury.  “You’ve failed in your attempt to bully us into surrendering what you’re demanding.  Now, we’re telling you again…leave this planet.  We won’t give in to your threats.”

The 456 continued to thrash about, slamming its large body into the glass of the tank as if it were trying to get out, to get to them and kill them with its bare hands…if it had hands.  Ianto took a hesitant step backward instinctively, but Jack was standing his ground, facing the rage of the alien behind the floor-to-ceiling windows as it reacted to Jack’s words. 

“We’re prepared for you,” Jack went on.  “This world will fight as it always has done.  Did you think you could do what the Daleks and the Cybermen and countless other races couldn’t?  Every alien invasion we’ve fought against and won.  You’re no longer wanted here, and the children will never be yours.”

“We will send our ships to collect them ourselves,” the 456 threatened.  “We can control them to come to us.”

“I don’t think so,” Jack countered.  “You see, we know how to stop you from controlling our children any longer.  Right about now, my technician is completing work on a shield that will block your signal and will keep you from taking the children by force.”

Of course, Ianto knew this was too easy.  The 456 had to have some sort of back-up, something that will still get them to their final goal.  Yes, taking away their control of the children was a huge step in getting rid of them for good, but the dragon knew they would keep trying as long as there wasn’t some sort of show of strength.  The problem was, no one had been able to find out where the ship – or ships, according to the alien’s previous slip – were, and there was still a chance they could destroy the planet when they didn’t get what they wanted.

This was the problem the Fae foresaw…the 456 being beaten away from the Earth, but at the same time making a final strike that would make the storms the Fae controlled look like a peaceful spring shower by comparison.  If too many people were killed by the 456 then it could mean disaster for everyone on the planet. 

So many things could still go wrong…

“We’re going to fight you,” Jack was saying, “and you might as well accept that and move on.”

The 456 continued to slam against the tank, and this time Jack did step back, away from the furious alien.  “You don’t dare risk what you want by taking action against the entire planet,” Ianto taunted, even though he was getting more and more concerned as time went on.  He was certain that the 456 could still strike, that there was something they didn’t know. 

Would making a first strike give the 456 pause in their actions?  The alien before them was trapped within its habitat, not able to breathe the air or leave, unless it chose to use whatever teleportation system it must have used to arrive at Thames House.  Could they scare it off?  Or would it take more than that?

Plus there was the child currently attached to the alien.  Ianto wanted nothing more than to save it, and continuing to taunt it wasn’t going to achieve that.   “Jack.”

His mate stepped back farther, until he was even with Ianto.  “I get the feeling there’s something we’re missing,” Jack whispered.

Ianto nodded.  “It’s not going to leave, not willingly.  It doesn’t care that the Fae have a prior claim. The only thing keeping them from taking the children is Tosh’s barrier, and if they discovered where that was coming from…”  He didn’t need to point out the inherent weakness of using the Archangel Network: that the satellites are unprotected in space, and that destroying one would break the nebulous web surrounding Earth. 

Suddenly, the 456 calmed.  “You are nothing to us,” it rasped, the voice sounding downright smug.   “We will take what we require, and you cannot stop us.”

Jack was frowning; it was even visible through the gas mask.  “I thought we made it clear that you couldn’t take the children using your current forms of persuasion.”

“You will yield.  You will have no choice.”

Ianto frowned as well.  “I think you’ll find we have plenty of choice.”

“No.  You are dying even now.”

Ianto glanced at Jack, worry suddenly rearing its ugly head.  “What do you mean?”

“You have retreated beneath masks, but our biological agent does not rely on breathing it in order to be affective.  It is absorbed through the skin.  You are dying.  Your precautions were of no substance.”

The dragon’s heart lurched.  He reached out to hold onto Jack’s arm, and he’d barely touched his mate when Jack swayed.  “Damnit,” he muttered, the mask making his voice sound even softer, “so much for being prepared.”  Ianto watched as Jack yanked off the mask, revealing his pale face.  His pupils were blown and his breathing was becoming laboured.  “And here I thought it was Tom’s cooking making me feel sick…”

“Jack,” Ianto begged, his mate’s name sounding like a sob, “ _please…”_

“You know I’ll come back, so don’t worry too much about it…”  Jack suddenly coughed.

“Yeah, right.”  Ianto wrapped his arm around Jack’s waist, holding him up.  He, himself, didn’t feel ill, and that either meant it would take longer to affect him, or his dragon traits were protecting him from whatever the 456 had injected into the building. 

He glared at the tank, and the dragon had the distinct impression that the alien was smirking at him.  His anger blossomed in his chest, feeding his inner fire, stoking it hotter and hotter until Ianto had to force the dragon back down, his true form needing to be unleashed.  Yes, Jack would come back, but this…thing…had still killed his mate. 

But he needed to get Jack out of the line of fire first.

Ianto half-dragged, half-carried his mate out of the room and toward the lift.  Jack tried to argue, but he shushed him, his free hand reaching for the call button.  “I need you away from this,” the dragon whispered, wanting to explain what was going through his mind but knowing that, somehow, Jack would know.  After all, he’d seen this before: back on the _Valiant,_ when Ianto had gone to rescue his mate.  His vengeance had been the reason the Doctor hated Jack so much now, but Ianto regretted nothing about killing the Master.  And Jack understood and had never held it against him.

The lift doors opened, and Ianto carefully moved his mate into the car, helping Jack slide down the wall when his legs wouldn’t hold him any longer.  Ianto reached around behind him and stabbed his finger into the ‘open door’ button, needing a few seconds to get Jack comfortable.

“I know what you’re going to do,” Jack wheezed. 

“Then you know why you need to be as far away as I can get you,” Ianto soothed, cupping Jack’s cheek in his hand.  He removed his own respirator, fairly certain the contaminates weren’t going to hurt him.

“I love you, you know that?”

The dragon smiled softly.  “Yes, I know.  You are my eternity, Jack.”

“Hurry back.”  Jack’s voice was getting weaker and weaker.

“You too.”  He leaned forward and pressed his lips against his mate’s.  Jack kissed him back, but it lacked the fire it usually had. 

Ianto stood.  He turned and pushed the button for the first floor, stepping out of the lift before the doors slid shut.  As much as he wanted to stay with Jack until he was gone, Ianto knew he couldn’t.  He had work to do, and his revenge to take.

He strode back into the room.  The tank was quiet, and Ianto knew that the 456 must be gloating over its perceived victory.  “I’m not finished with you yet,” Ianto growled, standing in the centre of the room, his legs spread and his hands behind his back.  “You should face your death, and not hide like a coward behind your glass walls.”

There was a moment of silence from the tank, and then, “You are dead.”

“No, I’m not.  You seem to have forgotten me saying that there are more than one race on this world.  Your airborne pathogen was designed for humans…not for those other races.   I may look human, but I can assure you I am not.  You have killed my mate, and you will now face my vengeance.”  Yes, Jack would recover, but it was the fact that this creature had caused him pain that was motivating him now.

The 456 thrashed, parts of its body slamming into the side of the tank.  Ianto caught glimpses of wrinkled, brown flesh and he forced his flame back once more.  It was almost time; he could keep in control for the moment.

“I claim the rite of vengeance against you, for the crime of bringing injury to my mate.”  Ianto stood up even straighter, his eyes sharp in the huddled shape inside the blue gas.  “I also claim vengeance for the Earth, my home, and the damage you have done to its people by threatening the young ones.  I call upon the Fae to witness.” 

The scent of rose petals filled the room.  Ianto didn’t have to look to know that several of the Fae had appeared beside him, their hissing agreement to be witnesses to his claim filling the empty space. 

Ianto finally let his dragon-form loose, his flame growing even hotter as his chest grew to contain it.  He fit within the room, his tail lashing into the chairs and tables against the rear wall, scattering them with a clatter.  He roared wordlessly, a battle cry that was full of the pain and rage he was experiencing…for his mate, and the pain Jack would suffer upon dying and awakening, and for the helpless ones these animals had demanded be turned over to them.

The dragon opened his mouth, letting his inner flame free.

Fire splatted against the glass of the tank.  From the technical stats that Toshiko had been able to gather on the construction, it was a form of bulletproof material that was rated to withstand even the heat of fire.

But a dragon’s flame was fiercer than a normal one, and the glass began to melt under the assault.

The 456 began to panic.  Its shape twisted within the mist as the glass slowly turned orange and started sliding down the outside of the tank.  It let out a scream, a loud, ululating cry that assaulted the dragon’s ears and drove into his brain like a sword, like the dragon-killer that still rested within Jack’s protected safe back at the Hub.  He ceased the flame long enough to roar once more, and then began his attack on the tank again.

The horrid stench of the 456’s home atmosphere hit Ianto’s sensitive nose, and once more he halted the flame, this time to address the Fae standing beside him.  It was Jasmine once more, only the changes to her physical form were almost complete.  “Can you save the child?” he growled, wanting nothing more than to destroy the alien but needing to check.  He didn’t want innocent blood on his hands, not if there was another option.

It was only a heartbeat, but a single rose petal floated from the hole he’d made in the glass.  _“We have him, ancient one,”_ Jasmine answered.  _“The gas was poison, but we have managed it since it has been diluted.”_

The dragon didn’t bother to thank her.  Instead, he focussed his attention back on the tank, where the 456 had to have noticed something was wrong; it was keening, the sound of it unnatural from the speaker.  Ianto grinned, unleashing his fire once more.

In the back of his mind, he worried that the aliens would take some sort of vengeance of their own when they discovered that one of theirs was dead, but Ianto pushed that back, determined to avenge the hurts done to his mate. 

He didn’t even feel the explosion as the gas within the tank reacted to his flame.

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

**_19 September 2009_ **

**_Day Five_ **

****

It was either too late at night, or too early in the morning, for anyone to be awake.

And yet Toshiko was, hunched over her keyboard as if basking in the minimal warmth radiating from the monitors.  Her head was aching and her eyes were gritty, but she needed to be working.  She needed to figure out a way to repel the 456 using the readings she and Owen had taken during the chanting sessions.

She needed to get revenge.

One of the trio of monitors still had an open link to Thames House, but the only thing on it was snow.  It had been like that since…Toshiko swallowed, not wanting to think about it but needing to keep it to the forefront of her mind, in order to use the rage that bubbled within her to keep her on task.  Those who had been watching hadn’t known what had happened, not until Martha had gotten in touch via the subwave network and an internet café.  She’d explained it all, and Rhys had taken over Toshiko’s own laptop she’d brought with her, pulling up the news feeds in order for them to see for themselves what Martha had been attempting to tell them through her own panic and anger.

The roof of Thames House had been blown completely off, and the upper floors had settled into the ones below, the building more a pile of rubble than a set of government offices any longer.  Police, emergency vehicles, and even the Army and UNIT had turned out in order to keep people away, those working the debris field obvious in bright yellow hazmat gear.

They would be worried about the fallout from the pathogen that the 456 had released.  Toshiko could certainly understand that.

The hum of commentary from the laptop tried to lull her, but Toshiko wouldn’t let it.  She knew that Rhys was keeping a steady eye on the coverage, and would let them know what was going on the moment he heard or saw anything.

At least Jack and Ianto had managed to get Thames House evacuated.  It could have been so much worse than it actually was, if one didn’t count the two who had been inside when the 456’s gasses had ignited. 

It was quiet, beyond the news coverage.  Toshiko knew that her team – her family – was still very much awake, waiting on news of their friends…no, their _parents_ , because that was what Jack and Ianto were.   Alice may have had a blood tie to Jack, but it wasn’t always the genetic markers that made a true family. 

When they’d lost the Thames House feed so suddenly, Toshiko had literally freaked out.  The last thing they’d seen was Ianto in his dragon form, facing down the 456 with his flame.  They’d been listening as Jack and Ianto had faced them down; about the alien pathogen that the 456 had set loose as an example, and how it didn’t need to be breathed in in order to be effective.  They knew Jack would be alright, but they hadn’t understood what Ianto was up to until he’d gotten back from wherever he’d taken Jack.  Toshiko, Rhiannon, and Alice had seen this before, back on the _Valiant_ after time had been set right.  Ianto was going to get his vengeance against the 456 for killing Jack, and honestly Toshiko had wanted to applaud him. 

But then everything had gone to hell, and they’d had to wait until Martha had called in barely fifteen minutes later, her breathing sharp and shallow as she’d tried so hard to deliver her report past her trembling.  Tom had been equally affected.

Owen had ordered them to keep an eye out, to stake out the area around Thames House.  They’d need to know when Jack and Ianto were found, to know where they would be taken and by whom if only to be able to swoop in and rescue them.  He wasn’t as polite as that, using terms such as ‘bloody dragon’ and ‘idiot immortal’ to describe their leaders.  Still Martha and Tom had agreed, and Toshiko had suggested using their mobiles to report in, since it appeared as if MI5 had much more important things to worry about than listening in on any conversations they might have.  The entire team had either left theirs in Cardiff or destroyed them, but Johnny had brought in a handset from the inn and had plugged it into a receptacle.  He’d claimed that the phone lines were on in the small house, but no one had thought to bring a phone in for them. 

Toshiko rubbed her eyes, taking a short break to turn in her chair in order to take in the rest of her family.  Patrick had taken the single overstuffed chair, and Alice was cuddled up on his lap, her head resting on Patrick’s shoulder as he held her close.  The technician couldn’t help but smile; it seemed once they’d admitted their feelings for each other the damn had burst, and she couldn’t be happier for them. 

Alice had taken what had occurred at Thames House particularly hard.  She’d just seen both of her parents get caught up in an explosion, and it had to have been traumatic.  Both Owen and Toshiko had been quick to reassure her, sharing the story of the cannibals at Brynnblaid, and how Ianto had come out of a flaming manor house with only a few scorch marks; Alice claimed to have heard the story before, along with the one about the bombs that John Hart had set to trap them, but re-hearing it seemed to settle her nerves a bit.  The dragon was immune to his own flame, Owen had pointed out, and a little explosion wasn’t about to take Ianto down.  And, of course Jack would always come back.

They just had to wait.  Ianto had been buried under all that rubble, and it would take time to get to him.  The same for Jack, and what was worse in his case was that they had no idea where Ianto would have taken him.

Rhys was seated in one of the rolling desk chairs, his feet up on the scuffed coffee table and the laptop on his knees.  His dark eyes glittered as he watched what was happening on the screen, a frown on his usually jovial face.  He’d been ready to storm London when word had gotten back to them about the explosion, and while they’d all been aware that Rhys had a temper on him, this was perhaps the first time Toshiko had seen where they’d almost been unable to talk him out of anything rash.  Rhys Williams was a loyal friend, and he had a sharp streak of justice, and Toshiko was glad he was on their team.

Owen and Deborah were sharing the sofa, the medic working over another laptop – this one belonging to Rhiannon – and Toshiko knew he was putting the finishing touches on the algorithms they would need for the Archangel Network.  They’d managed to jury-rig a block to the 456’s signal, but it was only stop-gap.  These would be unbreakable, and could also allow them to trace the signal back to wherever the aliens were hiding.  Toshiko was willing to bet they were hidden behind the moon, but then needed proof.  Deborah was sleeping, her head resting on the arm of the sofa, a knitted afghan thrown over her.  Toshiko actually envied her for being able to close her eyes, let alone sleep.

Estelle was pacing.  She’d known Jack longer than anyone in the room, had been a former lover and cared for both Jack and Ianto.  She was worried, but at the same time she had been the one who had been the most confident of their survival.  She’d tried to call on the Fae for answers within minutes of losing contact, but nothing had come of it.  They’d heard Jasmine tell Ianto that they’d managed to rescue the poor child tied to the 456, and Estelle had been certain they would know something. 

Well, the Fae might know, but they apparently weren’t going to say anything to them.

Toshiko turned back to her own work, trying to shore up the Archangel Network more than it was already.  Several of the satellites were barely functioning, and those were the ones she was trying to repair.  The Master had thoughtfully added several self-repair routines into his creations, but after the network being shut down and exposed to the coldness of space the programs were working somewhat fitfully.  At least the neural network was still viable, although the biological sections of the satellites had degraded quite badly.  That really wouldn’t matter, since after the 456 were taken care of Toshiko planned to deactivate those systems completely, letting the harvested brain cells follow their once-owners to the grave.

She had no idea how long she’d been working when Rhys cursed, the tone of his voice motivating every member of the team to cluster around his laptop.  Toshiko looked over Deborah’s shoulder to see emergency services bringing out a stretcher, the orange blanket pulled up over the body’s head in order to obscure the face.  But a tail of a very familiar greatcoat draped over the edge of the stretcher, and Toshiko felt something loosen in her chest that she hadn’t been aware had settled there.

The house phone jangled discordantly, and Patrick grabbed at it, answering it gruffly.   “Yeah, Martha, we’re seeing it,” he spoke.  “Where are you?...Oh, that’s smart, yeah.  Any sign of Ianto yet?...No, we haven’t either, but then we’re on the news feeds so I doubt they’d broadcast finding a large winged lizard in the wreckage…”  He laughed, and it was an almost relieved sound.  “Yeah, I know he’s not technically a lizard, but still…yeah, you’re right…do you think you can find out where they’re taking Jack?”  Then he frowned.  “Okay, sure.  Thanks.”  He hung up.  “Martha says that Jack was taken away by UNIT, and I don’t know about you guys but I don’t like hearing that at all.”

“Yeah,” Rhys said, pointing toward a corner of the screen.  Several familiar red caps were visible, barely on screen.  “Got ‘em right there.”

‘Yeah, this isn’t good,” Owen muttered.  “UNIT seems to be in this up to their necks, and having Jack fall into their hands is asking for trouble.  Sure, he does have friends in UNIT but Colonel Oduya doesn’t care for him at all.”

“I wish Colonel Mace was still in charge,” Toshiko sighed.  She, above them all, had no trust at all for UNIT after the way they’d treated her about her turning traitor to save her mother’s life.  With UNIT there was no trial, no jury, and a person was proved guilty no matter what the circumstances were.  The best thing that could have happened did that day that Jack and Ianto had walked into her life.   But she’d respected Colonel Mace after his involvement in cleaning up after the Master, and had been upset when he’d been wounded badly during the last Dalek attack.

“We need to get Jack away from UNIT,” Patrick snapped. 

“Agreed.”  Toshiko turned back to her terminals with new purpose.   She minimised the diagnostics on the Archangel Network, pulling up the thread she’d left dangling from UNIT’s servers. 

“Martha also said Tom would follow and then report back where they take him,” Patrick went on.  “But it’s most likely going to be the holding facility outside London.”

Toshiko couldn’t help but shiver.  That had been where UNIT had held her after she’d stolen the plans for that sonic device, and it was a horrible and depressing place to be.  “I don’t want Jack to wake up there,” she snapped, her sudden fear for Jack overwhelming her anger at him falling into UNIT’s hands.   “He’ll be alone, with no idea what’s happened to Ianto…”

She felt a hand on her shoulder; it was Alice, who was familiar with her story, one that the technician had shared during that Year.  She’d been so proud to know that Jack and Ianto had come for her, when they could have just let her rot in that concrete cell, that she’d had to let Alice know how wonderful her father and his mate had been to her.  It had been at the very beginning, when Alice had been angry and suspicious of everything, most of all her father and the dragons that she’d thought had manipulated her presence there. 

And yet, Alice had come around, and now she was a good friend as well as a member of the Torchwood family.  Yes, she still had that ingrained fear of Torchwood, but it was fading, and her newly-minted relationship with Patrick was a sign of that. 

“We’ll get him out,” Alice said, smiling despite the stress lines that had appeared around her reddened eyes.  She’d done a fair bit of crying after they’d discovered what had befallen at Thames House, even though the chances that either Jack or Ianto were gone was very small.  Alice, despite the hatred and fear she’d grown up around, had a gentle soul, and she loathed seeing anyone hurt.  It made her feel guilty about her behaviour toward her father, because she felt as if she’d only gotten one half of the story…which, of course, she had.  But she’d left so much baggage behind, and she and Jack – and Ianto, as the step-father – had a wonderful relationship now.  Thinking even for a few minutes that she’d lost that had nearly crushed her.

Toshiko took a deep breath and nodded then turned back to her monitors.  They were really effectively blind at the moment, having lost the feed from Thames House when it had been destroyed, and without eyes in either Downing Street or UNIT’s holding facility.  Computer traffic was also compromised, with only the UNIT hack currently up and running. 

The problem was she wasn’t really getting a lot out of that particular source.  Yes, the troop movements were disturbing, especially the order to have a platoon stationed at Caernarfon, which was just a bit too close for comfort, and another stationed in Bangor.  Toshiko didn’t care for that one bit.

However, judging from the new movements, she could guess that something was definitely up.  They had no eyes into the on-going Gold Command meeting, and there was no telling what the Cabinet was up to.  She’d tried to hack backward into the CCTV from Thames House, but had gotten nowhere.  It really wouldn’t matter much anyway, since the transmission looked to be one way and, even as good as Toshiko was, she didn’t think she could make a closed circuit monitor into a rudimentary webcam.

She was afraid that they were planning on going ahead with taking the children, and that Jack and Ianto’s ‘sacrifice’ would be in vain.  They needed to do something, to step into their teammates shoes and make sure nothing happened.

She just didn’t know how to do it.

Toshiko lost track of time as she worked simultaneously on the Archangel Network and to get some sort of eyes into Downing Street.  She managed to shore up a couple of the more corrupted satellites until she was certain their signal-blocking shield over the planet was stable.  But, as to Downing Street…nothing.

“I have a question,” Deborah said at one point.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Owen asked.  He’d finished his work, handing it over to Toshiko, who had implemented it.  It had worked perfectly, strengthening the signal and putting less stress on already stressed systems. 

Deborah wrinkled her nose at him calling her ‘sweetheart’, but she didn’t give him her usual lecture about having a perfectly good name, one that she quite liked.  “What’s going to happen when the 456, wherever they are, find out that their ambassador is dead?”

That had been the very question lurking in the back of Toshiko’s mind.  It was obvious that Ianto’s flame has destroyed the alien at Thames House.  How long would it take for the others to know and to retaliate? 

The others looked just as worried as Toshiko was.  “Well,” Patrick said, “we’ll just have to come up with a way to stop them.”

“That’s what we need…optimism,” Estelle replied, smiling at the American.  “There has to be a way to do just that.”

“Up until what happened at Thames House,” Patrick added, “I was certain the 456 wouldn’t kill the thing they were demanding.  But it just tried to kill an entire building full of people, and it was just plain good luck that Jack and Ianto cleared them all out before pissing off the 456.  Now, I’m not sure.”  He bit his lip, folding his arms around his chest as if he was hugging himself.  “I still can’t see them completely destroying the planet, but what if they have something that takes care of the adults?  They can already control the kids – although Tosh and Owen fixed that – who can say they don’t have a special virus or something that just targets adults?”

That sobered everyone in the room.  Patrick had a point: how were they supposed to fight something they couldn’t see before it was too late?

“Isn’t there a way to figure out where their ship is?” Alice asked.  “They’re putting out signals, aren’t they?  Can’t we…I don’t know…trace them or something back to their source?”  She looked taken aback by the six pairs of eyes that zeroed in on her, and she held up her hands as if to ward them off.  “Okay…so it was a bad idea –“

“No, it’s not,” Owen reassured her.  “In fact, it’s a bloody good idea.” 

Toshiko nodded, mad at herself for not thinking of that very thing.  “We have the frequency they’ve been broadcasting on.”  She turned back to her workstation.  “I can attempt to backtrack the signal to their ship, as long as the frequency remains open.”  She could do it through the Archangel Network; the programming was already there, the Master not leaving much to chance. 

“Hey, everyone!” Rhys called out, just as Toshiko was digging into the proper programs.  “You have to see this!”

There was a minor stampede toward Rhys’ chair; Toshiko simply tapped into the feed he was using and dragged the newscast up onto her third monitor.

_“– happening within the wreckage,”_ the newsreader was saying.  _“We cannot make it out as yet, but there is definite movement…”_ The man faded out, and the video from Thames House filled the screen.  Toshiko could see several large chunks of brick and masonry sliding down from the destroyed upper floors of the building.  It was almost too dark to see anything, but the glare from the halogen lights set up around the structure threw up shadows enough to just make out what was happening.

It had to be Ianto.                                                     

Toshiko couldn’t help but grin like mad.  Even though she’d been certain that her dragon friend would be fine, even if he’d been buried under all that rubble, there had still been that voice in the back of her head babbling away in terror that Ianto wouldn’t make it this time, that the dragon would finally succumb to the life that was Torchwood.  That Jack would, indeed, spend the rest of his horrifically long life without his mate.

Just then, the phone rang, and it was a fight to get to it.  Alice won, only because at the last no one wanted to deny her the right to hear the news from Martha. 

They knew everything was going to be alright when Alice laughed in sheer relief.

“Martha says that’s Ianto,” she said.  “She can see better from her viewpoint on a building across the way, and she says she can see Ianto’s head and neck pushing out of a large pile of debris.”

There were hugs all around, and Toshiko joined in on Alice’s laughter.  She watched her screen as it became more and more obvious that something large and living was emerging from what had once been the upper floors of Thames House. 

And then, the televised pictures suddenly stopped.

_“We seem to be experiencing technical difficulties,”_ the newsreader apologised.

“More like UNIT or whoever was on-scene didn’t want it to get out that there was a dragon digging himself out,” Rhys scoffed.

Owen snorted.  “You realise this means we might get another visit from that American TV presenter who was chasing dragons in Cardiff over a year ago.”

“Oh, I missed that!” Patrick exclaimed, pouting.

“It was quite fun,” Toshiko grinned.  “But he’d most likely come to London this time, instead of Cardiff.”  She couldn’t help but chuckle as she recalled the look on Ianto’s face when he’d told them about Josh Gates coming to town.  That particular episode of “Destination Truth” she still had downloaded to mainframe's server, and she played it when she wanted to torture her teammate.

“Martha says she’s got Tad’s attention,” Alice said, breaking into their conversation.  She sounded a little worried.  “He’s flying somewhat erratically, but should be with her in a few seconds.”

So, Ianto must have been injured in some way.  Toshiko watched as Owen requested the phone from Alice.  She handed over the handset almost reluctantly.  “Martha, when you can give me Dragon Boy’s condition…yeah, I know…visually then, cause I don’t trust him to give it to us straight, not with Jack still in the wind…idiot…put him on, darlin’…oh really?” He put his hand over the receiver.  “Ianto’s refusing to change back to human,” he told everyone in the room, “which means something’s pretty seriously wrong.”

Toshiko lost her smile.  The very few times she’d seen Ianto injured there’d been an issue with him returning to his human shape; the only time that hadn’t  happened was when he’d been hurt while he’d been changed, like the time he’d nearly been electrocuted by Bilis Manger. 

“Well,” Rhys said, “he _did_ have a building blow up around him.  I’d be surprised if he wasn’t hurt in some way.”

“Rhys has a point,” Estelle said, putting her arm around Alice.  “And he’s most likely not going to let anyone look him over until he has Jack back.  He won’t want to leave his mate in UNIT’s hands.”

“Yeah, I can hear him asking Martha where Jack is,” Owen confirmed.  He took his hand off the receiver.  “Martha, tell him what we know, okay?  You know he’ll want to go after him…yeah, I don’t like it either but we’re not gonna stop him…okay, let us know.”  He hung up, sighing, “Bloody stupid dragon.”

Toshiko knew that Owen had done the right thing, giving Martha the go ahead to inform Ianto about UNIT having Jack, but at the same time she was afraid for her friend.  He’d obviously been hurt, and yet he was going to fly right into UNIT’s stronghold…she didn’t like it one bit.

But, she also knew Ianto, and knew he’d never stop looking for Jack despite any injuries he might have gotten at Thames House.  It would be an almost physical imperative, to find his mate and make certain he was alright…or avenge him if he wasn’t.  Toshiko would have done the same thing if it has been Kathy, and she knew that everyone in this room would have travelled to the ends of the Earth for any one of their team family. 

So, she went back to her work.  But she couldn’t help but giving a quick prayer for Ianto and Jack.

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

“I can’t believe you actually want to face down UNIT in your condition,” Martha exclaimed, her hands on her hips in that posture that said, ‘you are being stupid and I want to slap you’.

The dragon huffed, a small gout of smoke trailing up from his nostrils.  Ianto had awakened in complete darkness, the weight of several thousand pounds of concrete and stone pressing down on him.  It had taken him a while to shift enough away from his body in order to completely dig himself out, and he’d never felt more relieved to see the night sky overhead, even if he couldn’t make out the stars beyond the actinic glow of the floodlights illuminating the area. 

There had been pain as well.  Parts of his back ached from being crushed under all of that weight, and his wings were cramping.  Ianto could feel places where his scales had been scorched in the powerful blast, and a sharp stab of agony flowed through his left wing and into the joint when he flexed it to try to relieve the cramping.  It wasn’t broken; if it had been he wouldn’t have been able to lift himself into the air, let alone fly to where he’d seen Martha gesticulating wildly on the roof of a building across the street.  But there was obvious damage, and he knew Martha would notice.

She was on a mobile when he landed somewhat awkwardly beside her.  Another flash of pain flared in his left rear leg and hip, and he barely held back a hiss.  From her side of the conversation it had been Owen she was conversing with, and the dragon wanted to roll his eyes at that, only his head hurt and he didn’t want to make it any worse.

“Where’s Jack?” were his first words to her. 

He was worried about his mate.  The last time he’d seen Jack was him having been affected by the biological agent used by the 456, and of Ianto settling him into a lift and sending him down to the ground floor.  The reinforced steel and concrete of the lift shaft should have protected Jack from the explosion and accompanying destruction…although seeing what the building looked like shocked Ianto just a bit.  He hadn’t intended to wreck it so completely.

They must have seen him fly off, because the dragon could hear the hue and cry from the street below.  They would be up there any moment, and they would need to get away if they didn’t want to have to face down the UNIT troops coming to arrest them.

“No,” he said to Martha’s request, “I won’t change back to human.  We need to find Jack first.”  He didn’t say that he was certain he wouldn’t be able to change; anytime he’d been this hurt he’d been unable to right away, and Ianto didn’t want to risk getting stuck.

“I need to make sure you’re okay,” she answered, still on the phone. 

“I’m fine,” he lied.  Ianto knew he was far from fine.  His head was now starting to pound in earnest.  He thought he might have a concussion.  “I need to know where Jack is, Martha.  Is he okay?  Did they pull him from the rubble yet?” 

Sighing, Martha flipped her phone closed.  “Yeah, they pulled him out a while ago.  But, Ianto…UNIT has him.  Tom’s following the transport now to see where they go, but it’s pretty obvious it’s going to be the holding facility outside the city.”

That wasn’t good at all.  Ever since he’d been buried under Cardiff for two millennia, Jack had been somewhat claustrophobic, and being held in one of those tiny cells could very well be torture for him.  “Then that’s where we need to go.”

“Ianto, you can’t,” she answered sharply.  “I can tell you’ve been injured.  I need to take a look at you!”

“We don’t have time!” he growled angrily.  “The crowd below saw me land on this roof, and they’ll be on their way.  We can’t risk being taken into custody.”  He knew he’d willingly give himself up if it meant no harm came to Martha.  And he wasn’t about to leave Jack in the hands of who was now the enemy.  “Climb on, quickly.”

He managed to crouch low enough for Martha to clamber onto his back, and he couldn’t help but flinch as she rubbed against sensitive scales.  Usually flame didn’t damage dragon scale, but this time…the gas within the tank had ignited, and there must have been something in it that had intensified the fire so much it actually hurt him.  Ianto recalled the discussion of what had made up the 456’s atmosphere, and wondered if it could have been worse.

Her extra weight caused pain to shoot through his back and wing, but Ianto ignored it.  He actually took a running start and launched himself off the side of the structure, his wings unfurling and catching an updraft.  The dragon wanted to whimper from the agony in his left wing, but he swallowed it back, intent on getting to Jack and getting him out of UNIT custody. 

He’d tear down their entire compound if he had to.

 

**********

 

Jack came back to life quietly; no huge inhalation, no crying out…but gently, as if something was stifling the effect resurrecting usually had on him.  He blinked his eyes, not recognising his surroundings at all.

He was in a small, concrete room, not even long enough for him to stretch out on the floor in.  Said floor was chill against his back and side, and he rolled over and tried to lever himself up, hands instantly cold as he pushed upward and into a sitting position.   The cell – and that was what it was – was completely bare of anything, with only a bucket in the corner that had to have been put there so he could relieve himself.

There was a tiny window high in the wall, but it was still dark outside.  Still, Jack could finally identify where he was: in one of UNIT’s solitary cells, much like the one that he and Ianto had rescued Toshiko from.  He noticed he was wearing one of the ugly orange jumpsuits, and he grimaced, missing his greatcoat intensely because of the cold that seemed to permeate the very cinderblock walls and floor.

Jack didn’t like being in such a small, confined space, and he breathed deeply in order to attempt to calm his suddenly racing heart.  He couldn’t let whoever was holding him know about this weakness; they would use it against him.  Jack was very familiar with such tactics, and he was angry that they were going to be used against him.

He managed to slide across the floor to lean his back against the wall, shivering slightly.  The last thing he remembered was being affected by whatever the 456 had put into the air in Thames House, and of Ianto putting him into a lift car, sending it downward.  It had been a smart thing to do, since the shaft would have protected him from whatever had occurred on the thirteenth floor.

Jack didn’t know what that was, though.  He didn’t know anything, and it scared him.

Perhaps it was a little childish of him, but Jack wanted his mate.  He needed to know that Ianto was alive and fine after the confrontation with the 456.  He could stand being a captive if only he knew that his dragon was out there somewhere, safe and well.

A light in the ceiling suddenly switched on, and Jack blinked in the glare.  “The least you could have done was warn a guy before you give him his wake-up call,” he groused to the ceiling, well aware that he was being monitored. 

A recorded voice boomed out into the tiny cell.  “STEP AWAY FROM THE DOOR.”  It was repeated several times, making Jack roll his eyes.  He was about as far away from the door as he could get, sitting against the far wall.

The light and the loudness of the recording made his head hurt worse than it had upon awakening.  He wasn’t about to show any weakness though, and remained lounging against the wall as if he didn’t have a care in the world when, in fact, he was growing more and more afraid for his mate.  Had UNIT managed to get Ianto as well?  Jack didn’t care about himself, but Ianto…they had to know his true nature by now.  UNIT would want to get their hands on something they would consider as alien, no matter the fact that Ianto could trace his family back to before the asteroid had killed off the dinosaurs.  There was no telling what they would do to him.

The heavy metal door opened, and two burly UNIT privates stepped into the small room.  Jack leered up at them.  “Well, at least you guys are pretty.  I’d hate to be in custody of ugly guards.”

The man on the left motioned with his gun.  “Get up.”

“But I just got comfortable!”

The second guard lashed out with a heavy boot, connecting with Jack’s thigh.  Jack didn’t react, even though it had hurt like blazes.  “All you had to do was say ‘please’.”

He stood up, grinning at both soldiers.  Jack let them snap handcuffs around his wrists and shackles on his ankles, commenting, “As much as the cuffs are pretty kinky, I’m afraid you guys aren’t my type anymore.”

That earned him a smack across the face, which split Jack’s lip.  It healed quickly, but not fast enough that he couldn’t spit blood onto the uniform of the guard who’d hit him.  Maybe that would teach the guy to step back after hitting someone.

They frogmarched him out of the cell and into a long corridor.  The floor was cold and clammy under his bare feet, but Jack pretended it didn’t matter.  He kept up a running dialogue that the soldiers didn’t deign to react to, which was a shame.  Jack wanted to see if he could knock them off-guard, and it wasn’t working.  He’d have to come up with some other way to rattle them that didn’t include some of his best innuendo.  Although, one of the guard was blushing by the time they’d arrived at their destination: an office in the main part of the base, where Jack had been once more: when he and Ianto had come to collect Toshiko.

He was roughly shown into the office.  He should have guessed that Colonel Oduya would be there, since he was in charge of UNIT Great Britain.  Oduya was obviously angry, judging from the frown on his face and the throbbing vein in his forehead.

Jack ignored it.  He shuffled forward and sprawled in the uncomfortable metal chair in front of the desk…well, sprawled as much as he could in cuffs and shackles.  He favoured the colonel with his best shit-eating grin.  “I would say this was a pleasant surprise, but you’d know I was lying.”  He and Oduya had never really gotten along, although Jack had tried.  There was just something about Torchwood that the UNIT colonel didn’t like, and Jack had never figured it out.

“Harkness,” Oduya answered, his voice level even though he was clearly not happy with Jack being there.   “You just had to stick your nose in this, didn’t you?”

Jack shrugged.  “It wasn’t my fault that the Home Office drew attention to itself by trying to kill me.  You can’t just put a Blank Page order out on a person and expect them to roll over and let them get away with it.”

“Do you have any idea what you and that damned lizard you call a Second have done?” There was a crack in that calm, and Jack couldn’t help but poke at it, like a kid with a scab.

“Kept the 456 from taking any more children?” Jack answered blithely.  He had no idea what had happened after he’d died, but he could bet Ianto had put on a show if Oduya knew his mate’s true nature.  “Oh, and I wouldn’t call Ianto a lizard…he’s a dragon.  He takes offence so easily when you don’t get it right.”

“I don’t care whether it takes offence,” Oduya snapped.  “What I care about is you went blundering in, and now we have a situation on our hands and no way to get out of it.”

“You should have called Torchwood in from the very beginning,” Jack said, letting his own anger show.  “We could have stopped this long before it got started with the proper information.”

“You think Torchwood is so high and mighty.”

“No…I just think Torchwood could have fixed this if we hadn’t been blocked at every turn.  Oh, and you should be concerned with your security around here.  My technician was able to hack in with almost no problem at all.  That’s not good for an organisation that handles top secret information.”

That hit a nerve.  “Just for hacking into our systems I can hold you indefinitely –“

Jack shrugged, unconcerned.  Yes he was very much worried about Ianto, and he hated being in the dark, but he just wasn’t that bothered about being in custody.  He had enough connections, and he had his team.  “I don’t think so, because in Great Britain we’re actually above UNIT; this is our jurisdiction, first and foremost.  I’m sure the Queen would love to hear that you’re holding the Director of the Torchwood Institute, since she’s the only one I answer to. Eventually you’ll be letting me out, because the Queen _will_ get involved and I can promise you that anyone who even _breathed_ on this plan to give the children to the 456 will end up being arrested.”  He gave Oduya a shark-like grin, letting his words settle into the UNIT colonel’s head.

 “It doesn’t really matter now, does it,” Oduya answered.  “Your barging in has made things so much worse, and if it was me I’d bury you so deep no one would be able to find you.  When your _dragon_ ,” he stressed the word, making sound like a curse, “confronted the 456 and destroyed it, he wrecked any chance we would have had to negotiate the numbers down –“

“You never would have done it,” Jack pointed out, ignoring the shiver down his spine at Oduya’s threat to bury him, even as he felt a glow of pride, knowing that Ianto had avenged him with the alien.  “The 456 would’ve never accepted anything less than ten percent.  Our only choice is to send them packing.  If showing force to do so, then that’s what we’ll do.  We cannot let them take a single child; to give in would mean they’d come back for more.  It might not be soon, but it would happen, and next time they’d ask for more.  That’s even without the Fae destroying everything, but then of course the 456 wouldn’t see another child, ever.”  If Oduya saw Ianto as a dragon, then he had to have seen the entire meeting with the alien.  “Our only choice here is to send the 456 packing.”

“You should know that the British Government has decided to gather the children anyway,” Oduya said.  “We cannot take the chance that the aliens will make a first strike against the planet.”

Jack was appalled.  “You do know that you’ll be responsible for the destruction of the entire human race if you do that, don’t you?”  How could they make that sort of decision, knowing about the Fae and the Pact their ancestors had made with them? 

Oduya waved the objection away.  “We can protect ourselves from these so-called Fae.”

Jack laughed, a deep, outrageous thing that was vaguely hysterical.  “You and the government are nuts.  You’re going to destroy everything unless you let my team do their jobs and get rid of the 456.”

“Just how do you propose to do that?  We don’t even know where their spaceship is orbiting.  And if you think the Archangel Network will make any difference, we shut down those satellites for good.”

“Obviously not, since my technician got them all back up and running.”  He would back Toshiko against anyone who thought she wasn’t capable enough.

“This would be Toshiko Sato, I believe,” Oduya scoffed.  “You really think she can do what UNIT’s own technicians haven’t?”

“I do, yes.  Because she’s just that good.  You guys really made a mistake imprisoning her.  You could have had her working for UNIT.”

“We don’t hire criminals.”

“Which is a good thing for me.”  Jack wouldn’t trade his Toshiko for anything. 

Oduya stood.  “We’re going to tuck you away until everything is over.  You won’t be able to interfere again.”

Jack smirked.  “And what about my team?  They’ll keep fighting even without me.”  He had complete trust in everyone in his family; they would do what it took to defeat the alien threat.

“It’s not just you then, is it?”  Oduya pressed a button on his desk phone.  “Send him in.”

The door opened, and Jack turned just enough to see another soldier enter.  He pushed an obviously embarrassed Tom into the room, his hands cuffed in front of him.   “Hey, Jack,” he said, chagrined.

 

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

“And just what are you doing here?” Jack inquired as Tom came to stand next to him.  He surreptitiously checked Tom over, making certain he was alright; and, apart from what looked like would become a spectacular black eye, his friend looked basically unharmed.

“Um…I was following the lorry your body had been put in.” Tom looked faintly embarrassed.

This did put a different spin on things.  As long as his team was free, Jack could hold out as long as he needed to.  But having just one in custody…UNIT knew he’d never endanger one of his people. 

Jack played it calmly, even though his concern had just ramped up into worry.  “Are we gonna have to arrange lessons in tailing a suspect?” he asked lightly.

Tom shrugged.  “I can duck a Toclafane.  Following someone is somewhat different.”

Oduya started, staring at Tom as if he was seeing a ghost.  “The Toclafane are beyond top secret!”

“You’re looking at one of the heroes of the Year of the Toclafane,” Jack announced, proud of the young doctor.  “He helped lead the Resistance, along with my team, plus he’s Martha Jones’ husband which automatically makes him special.”  He regarded Oduya.  “I seem to recall you didn’t last past the first month…not that you’d remember that, of course.  I’m sure that fact must be in a report somewhere.”  He gave Oduya a smug smile.  “You really have no idea just how talented my team is, do you?  You’re so hung up on jurisdiction and posturing that you overlook anyone not fitting into your small corner of the world.”

Oduya narrowed his eyes.  “I don’t think it much matters at this moment.  We’re concerned with the 456, not some paradox that doesn’t exist any longer.  We’ll hold the pair of you until you cannot cause any more trouble.”  He waved at the guards.  “Take them to cells.  And get our new ‘guest’ appropriate garments to wear.”

Jack rolled his eyes and stood.  “The accommodations are not even two-star,” he said as an aside to Tom.  “I won’t recommend this place as a vacation spot ever again.”

Tom snorted.  “Oh darn, and here I was hoping Martha and I could come here for a second honeymoon.”

Yes, there was a reason why Jack liked Tom Milligan so much.

Before they could even leave the office, though, the entire building seemed to shake slightly.  The facility had been built to withstand a lot of things, so Jack knew whatever was going on would have to be something pretty spectacular.  Colonel Oduya’s phone began ringing as an alarm blared. 

“Having a bit of trouble?” Jack asked over the headache-inducing alarm. 

Oduya ignored him.  “Cut out that damned alarm!” he shouted into the phone.  In seconds, it was once again quiet, except for the impact refraction going on somewhere in the complex.

And then, Jack heard it.  It was a roar, full of rage and the promise of violence.  He couldn’t help but grin.  “That dragon of mine knows how to make an entrance,” he proclaimed happily.   He was so glad that Ianto was alright and coming for him that it was all he could do to remain calm and to continue to poke at Oduya’s growing fury. 

“I want to know what’s going on,” the colonel said into the handset.  He was silent as whoever it was on the other end reported the presence of a royally pissed-off dragon somewhere on the base.

Jack didn’t even have to hear the conversation to know what exactly Oduya was being told.

Another roar came from outside, this time it was coupled with Jack’s name.  Jack was beaming proudly.  “You might want to consider giving the dragon what he wants before he tears the building down around your ears.”  He was feeling positively giddy.

Oduya didn’t look happy as he said into the phone, “Bring out the rocket launcher and armour-piercing shells.  If we can’t run it off, we’ll blow its brains all over the countryside.”

He slammed the phone down.  “Takes these two to the cells, then report to Captain Spencer out in the car park.”

The three soldiers nodded, and they hadn’t even taken three steps before the phone rang once more.  Jack heard Oduya pick it up as two of the guards yanked him forward by the biceps.  He almost stumbled, and it was horribly undignified, but Jack didn’t care.  He winked at Tom, who also had a smile on his face.  “Do you think Martha’s with him?” he asked.

“Not even a dragon can keep our Nightingale away,” Jack declared proudly.  “Your wife is a complete badass.”

Tom’s expression turned sappy; Jack wondered how many times he’d looked like that thinking of his dragon.  “That she is.”

“You are one lucky bastard, Tom.”  Jack couldn’t go as fast as the guards wanted him to, with the shackles on his bare ankles.

“I know it, Jack.  So are you.”

The building shivered once more.  “Oh, yeah, I’m very well aware of that.”

One of the soldiers ‘escorting’ them looked a bit freaked out.  “I hope none of you are virgins,” Jack sing-songed.  “The dragon loves a good virgin for breakfast.”

“Jack, you are evil.”

“It’s one of my best characteristics!”

Tom laughed at that. 

The first cell they came to, both Jack and Tom were thrown in together.  At least the guards thought to remove Jack’s shackles, but both were kept handcuffed.   “Well, this is impressive,” Tom said sarcastically, glancing around in distaste.  “You were right about the accommodations.”

“We won’t be here long, though,” Jack said confidently.  Honestly, his mate had never gone up against a rocket launcher before, but Jack felt certain it would just piss Ianto off even more than he already was.

The armour-piercing rounds, though, Jack was concerned about.  On paper, those bullets could go through a Dalek, and while Ianto’s scales were like hardened steel any of those might possibly penetrate into vulnerable flesh.

He tilted his head toward the window, set too high in the wall for him to look out of, although he could tell it was becoming daylight.  Then he grinned, glancing over at his cellmate. “If I give you a boost, do you think you could see anything out of that window?”

Tom eyed is speculatively.   “Don’t see why not, although it’ll be a bit awkward with our hands cuffed.”

Jack squatted, lacing his fingers together.  “Alley oop!”

Tom rested his hands on Jack’s right shoulder, planting his foot carefully into the make-shift stirrup of Jack’s palms.  The doctor wasn’t overly muscular; he was lankier, and Jack didn’t have too much trouble taking his weight as he hoisted Tom upward.

There was a bit of wriggling, and then a whoop of sheer excitement.  “Damn it,” Tom swore, “you have any idea just how intimidating a single dragon eye at a window can be?”

Jack didn’t even bother hiding the grin that bloomed across his face.  Ianto was fine, and he was there to get them out.  “Bringing you down,” he said, not wanting to surprise the other man and have him fall. 

Once Tom was back on the ground, Jack backed up against the steel door, wanting to see what Tom had.  Unfortunately he was at the wrong angle and couldn’t make out a thing. 

Tom joined him at the door.  “How do you think he found us?”

“Probably because he can sense me,” Jack explained.  “He can feel the Rift as well.  It’s the time energy…at least that’s what he believes.” 

There was a sudden tinkle of glass as the window was broken inward by a single, large talon.  “You manage to get into the most trouble,” the familiar, Welsh-accented voice rumbled through the opening.

“Hey, now!” Jack exclaimed, laughing.  “I’m not the only one with the trouble gene, you know!”

There was a snort, and the claw that had broken through the window curled around something that Jack couldn’t see; there must have been at least one bar up there. 

Jack could see the claw flexing, and cinder block dust drifted down into the cell.  Another flex and most dust floated on the breeze, while a crack appeared in the mortar between the blocks that formed the wall.  Yet another pull and, with a loud crunch, the window suddenly tore open far wider, and the claw vanished.  Jack bounced on the balls of his feet, not noticing the cold concrete under this toes any longer.

A head appeared in the opening.  “I only asked you to follow them,” Martha teased her husband, “not get into what must have been a dust-up and then get yourself thrown into a cell.”

Tom touched the forming black eye and managed to look outraged and sheepish at the same time. 

“Yeah,” Jack jumped on the ‘let’s give Tom grief’ bandwagon.  “I offered to get him surveillance lessons, Nightingale.”

“We can discuss this later,” Ianto’s voice interrupted them, “because the UNIT troops are regrouping and I don’t relish being shot at.  Even if the bullets won’t penetrate my scales, they still sting,”

Martha moved back, and a large, clawed hand inserted itself into the damaged window.  This time, the dragon managed to rip a large enough hole in the wall for them to climb out.   Spurred on by the idea that his mate might not be able to withstand the weaponry Oduya would be readying, Jack leaped into the opening, pulling himself out with the help of Ianto’s fingers.

He moved out of Tom’s way, who scrambled out of the hole almost on Jack’s heels.   The orange jumpsuit Jack had on didn’t do much for the wind that cut through the thin material, and he wished he knew where his greatcoat had been taken.  Oh well, he could get it back once this was all over.  For now, they needed to leave. 

“We need to get those cuffs off,” the dragon growled. 

Jack stepped up and calmly held out his wrists.  Ianto gently positioned the short chain between two of his claws, and snapped the links easily.  Tom followed suit, quipping, “Why Grandma, what big claws you have.”

Ianto didn’t answer as he usually would, and that was when Jack got his first good look at his mate.

There was scorch marks marring the smooth green of the dragon’s scales along his flank and back.  From what Jack could see of his left wing, the joint was swollen, pushing the scales out of alignment.  Ianto also had his head down, and Jack could see the pain in his expressive blue eyes.   Jack swallowed hard, seeing his mate in this condition.  “Are you alright to fly?” he asked gently, gently touching unmarked scales.

“We need to leave,” Ianto answered…which wasn’t what Jack had, in fact, asked.  He looked toward Tom.  “Martha and I saw your car from the air, Tom.  It’s parked just on the other side of the building.  If I covered you, you should be able to make it.”

“Okay,” Tom said.  He was also eyeing the damage done to the dragon, and Jack knew that the young doctor would be cataloguing the visible injuries for later treatment. 

Now though wasn’t the time to argue about it, though, and Jack was grateful that the young man kept silent on the matter for the moment. 

“I don’t have the keys anymore since they confiscated them when they grabbed me,” Tom went on, “but I did learn how to hotwire stuff while running missions during that Year.”  He grasped Martha’s hand, tugging her forward.  “Let’s get the hell out of here.  I don’t like the idea of UNIT using us as target practice.”

The dragon nodded.  “I still have my flame, and I can take care of anyone wanting to take shots at us.  Just stay near me, alright?”

“Ianto – “ Jack began.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured him.  “I’ve been hurt worse; you’ve just never been around to see it.  Let’s go home.”

Jack couldn’t argue with that, even though he was going to have words with his mate later and get an explanation of just he’d meant. 

Together, the four of them circled the building.  Apparently Oduya hadn’t cadged onto the fact that his prisoners had escaped, because most of his men were around near the front of the facility.  Jack didn’t like what he saw; there were several soldiers with rocket launchers, as well as at least one fifty-calibre rail gun manned by three red-capped men.  That was the one thing Jack worried most about, and he hoped they could get past it.

Ianto solved the issue by breathing a line of fire toward the hunkered down troops.

Men dove out of the way, most of them abandoning their posts to prevent from getting burned.  Jack, along with Martha and Tom, raced toward the car park on the other side, Jack spying the Milligan’s vehicle among the official UNIT trucks.  He knew once they got in among them Oduya’s men wouldn’t be able to target them. 

A loud roar came from behind them, and then Jack heard the unmistakable rush of air signalling yet another burst of flame.  He was terrified for his mate, and it was all he could do not to turn and make his stand with Ianto. 

A sudden whoosh had him turning just in time to watch Ianto duck a rocket aimed at his head.

That was it.

Jack stopped his forward momentum, yanking open the door of one of the parked Jeeps.  He crawled most of the way inside, and by leaning over the front seat he found the stash of weapons every UNIT vehicle came equipped with.

Jack climbed out, holding a pair of machine pistols in his hands.

The spray of bullets he sent toward the soldiers must have shocked them, because Jack managed to take down several before they even noticed him.  Their attention was on him, and he had to duck behind the armoured Jeep in order to avoid getting shot.  Yes, he would come back, but he didn’t want to be a burden to his friends, and he knew them all well enough by now that he was certain they wouldn’t leave him behind, even if he ordered it.

He managed to see Ianto, though, to know where the dragon was and to ascertain that he seemed to be alright at the moment.  Once the attention was off him, the dragon mantled his wings and used the momentum to hop clumsily several yard toward the parked vehicles, and he let loose more fire since the soldiers were distracted.

It was almost like a tennis match.  Ianto would send fire toward the UNIT troops, all the while making his slow – and obviously painful – way toward the facilities’ front gates.  Jack would then shoot at them, making them change their direction toward him, basically making them stay under what cover they had.  Jack managed to take out the gun crew on the 50-cal on one pass, while the dragon bathed it in flame on another.

That was one gun that wasn’t going to be fired, ever again.

But Jack could tell his mate was hurting badly.  After a few short hops using his wings, the dragon had taken to scuttling backward on all fours, and he could see Ianto was favouring his rear left leg as he moved.  They needed to get out of there quickly before someone got lucky and hit one of Ianto’s wounded, vulnerable areas.

“Jack!’ he heard Martha shout his name, and he took the chance and glanced backward.  She was waving at him from their car which, true to Tom’s word, had obviously been hotwired and was idling just two rows over.   

He let off twin bursts of his machine pistols, and while the UNIT men were avoiding the flying bullets, Jack called out to Ianto.

The dragon must have heard him, because he took another wing-assisted hop – although Jack could see how much it pained him – and finally got his back against the closed gates.  Jack took several more shots as Ianto quickly turned his back to the soldiers and tore the fence apart with both hands, claws ripping through chain link like it was made from room-temperature butter.

The revving of an engine had Jack backing toward the Milligan’s car, both pistols held out and ready to shoot at anyone who stuck his head out from behind the barricades Oduya had set up.   The gravel under his bare feet hurt like a bitch, but he couldn’t deal with that now.  They had to get out of there, and now.

Jack had to duck behind a troop transport, and he lost sight of his mate for the few precious seconds it took for him to get to the idling vehicle.  He could still hear the tell-tale sound of a dragon breathing fire as he practically threw himself in the back seat, yelling, “Go!” as he nearly ricocheted off the back of the passenger side front seat.

Tom floored it, and the car slammed forward, gravel slinging in all directions from the spin on the tires.  He had to thread it between a lorry and another Jeep before getting out onto the driveway, and the car fishtailed as the doctor slung the wheel hard around left.

The car was pointed right at the dragon, from where he was perched in front of the ripped-apart gates, protecting their escape.  Jack rolled down the rear window, and helpfully sprayed the area with high-velocity rounds, sending what troops were left undercover once more.  He took a look outside of the windscreen, and saw they were unbelievably close to a scaled green chest; Jack was about to shout a warning when the dragon disappeared, leaping into the sky just as Tom shot the car under his bulk.

Jack stuck his head out the window, ignoring the UNIT troops in order to watch his mate take flight.  Ianto wasn’t gaining altitude very fast, and Jack’s heart was in his throat for several seconds before it was obvious that the dragon was going to stay in the air.  He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” Martha asked worriedly, turning to look into the back seat.

Jack shrugged.  “I always am.”  Then he glowered at her.  “I can’t believe you let Ianto fly here from Thames House!”

Martha rolled her eyes.  “Like I was about to stop him!  C’mon, Jack…you know as well as I do that there’s no stopping Ianto when it concerns you.  He was going to come for you whether I was with him or not.”

She had a point.  Ianto would tear apart the world if it meant he would get to Jack.  Still, seeing him in pain like that…he sighed.   “Yeah, I know.  I just hate it that he was hurt.  What happened, anyway?”  He knew what Oduya had told him, which hadn’t been much at all, and Jack needed to hear it from someone he trusted.

Martha explained what she’d seen, and what she’d heard from the team back in Ddraig Llyn.  Jack was stunned when he’d heard of the destruction of Thames House, and that Ianto had been buried under literally tons of concrete and metal until he’d managed to dig himself out.  No wonder his mate was hurting!  It had been far worse than he’d even imagined, after seeing the very visible wounds on his dragon.

“Do we know for sure that the 456 in Thames House is gone?” Jack asked, once Martha was finished.

“Ianto said so,” she answered.  “The gas ignited from the heat of his flames.  There was no way it could have survived.”

“And the child?”

“According to Patrick, the Fae managed to save the boy.”

Jack slumped back against the seal, suddenly exhausted. 

“Here.” Martha handed over her mobile.  “Call the team; they’ll want to hear from you.  The number’s listed under ‘vacation home’.”

Jack snorted at that, flipping the phone open and scanning down the contacts list.  He paused before speed-dialling, but said to hell with it if anyone was still listening.  It rang only once before it was answered.  _“What’s up, sweetheart?”_

He couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Owen’s voice.  “Nothing much, honey,” he returned.

_“Bloody hell, Harkness,”_ the medic shouted down the line.  _“Didja have to get yourself killed?”_ He sounded relieved, and yet mad at the same time.

“We didn’t expect a contact agent,” Jack said.  “How’s things going there?”

_“Toshiko’s got the Archangel Network up and running.  We’ve got everything under control so far, but we have no bleeding clue what the 456 are gonna do when they figure out they’re not gonna to get an answer from their buddy that’s now a splat on the concrete of Thames House.”_

That was a puzzle to Jack as well.  Certainly the other aliens would have reacted by now?  “Maybe Toshiko managed to block their signals as well?”

_“That’s what she thinks.  But she thinks she’s also found out where their ship’s been hiding out.”_

“That’s great news.”  It was one more thing they could try to control: when the next problem occurs.  If they could monitor the 456’s ship, then they would be several steps ahead of any sort of incursion.  “We need to come up with a way to send them on their way, though.”

_‘Yeah, Tosh is working on that, and we’re all brainstorming ideas.  Seems like Alice came up with one that’s doable: sending a signal back along their transmission lines in hopes of disabling them.  Patrick’s all for blowing them to hell, but you know how much he enjoys things that go ‘bang’.”_

“That still wouldn’t be a bad idea.”  If they could destroy whatever the 456 have out there, it would send a message that the human race could take care of themselves, instead of the one that the government was bent on setting.  “We really need something that communicates to them that we want them the hell gone, whatever that’s going to be.”

Jack glanced out of the back of the car, and for some reason they weren’t being followed.  He knew it was only a matter of time before UNIT got off their arses and sent out patrols to catch them.  “We can’t come to the valley,” he said.  “Not yet, anyway.  But Ianto’s been hurt and he can barely keep himself in the sky.  One of his wings is injured.”  He described the swelling he’d seen.

Owen cursed.  _“I can’t see it myself, but it sounds like he either pulled or tore the muscle.  He needs to get out of the air and rest that wing.”_

“And we’ll have UNIT on our tails in no time.  We can’t stop.”  Jack was really worried at what Owen had told him, about Ianto’s wing.  With an injury like that he knew damned well that the dragon wouldn’t be able to change shape. 

“We’ll need to dump this car,” Tom said from the front seat.  “UNIT knows what we’re driving.”

_“I heard that,”_ Owen said.  _“Look, I…wait a second, Rhys wants to talk to you.”_

There was the sound of the handset being transferred over, and Rhys’ voice came over the line.  _“Ianto’s hurt his wing?”_

“Yeah, he has.”

_“Then I know exactly what you need to do…”_

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

Toshiko had half an ear on Rhys’ conversation with Jack.  She’d seen with her own eyes that her friend had been injured at Thames House, but his wing…they were the most liable to get hurt, and she knew the dragon wouldn’t be able to stay in the air for long.  What Rhys was suggesting sounded like a good plan, and they would just have to wait for them to make their way to Ddraig Llyn.

She couldn’t help but be worried.  Toshiko had known the moment that Ianto had arrived at the UNIT holding facility, from the sudden burst of computer chatter and then…nothing.  The personnel on the base would have been distracted by an enraged dragon, and most likely had been utilising radio communications at that point.  Knowing Ianto as she did, Toshiko knew that he’d used brute force to get Jack out of their custody, and to be honest she wished she could have seen that.  Even hurt, the dragon was magnificent, but in a rage…he was a true force of nature.  Toshiko couldn’t think of a single thing that could stand against Ianto when he was going after anyone who had done something to Jack.  Forget talking or negotiating…that wasn’t going to happen where Jack was concerned.

She went back to work, equalising the Archangel Network and strengthening the signal blocker that was protecting the children from the 456’s control.  Toshiko had been considering what Alice had suggested, and it made sense. 

The 456 were named after the network they broadcast on.  That gave them a link to their base, which she’d been able to track back to beyond the Moon, which meant they were hiding there.  Toshiko hadn’t yet attempted to get into the systems, but it was her next stop in trying to find a way to stop them.  If she could find something they would be at least partially destructive to them…it wasn’t going to be simple, but Toshiko thought she could do it.

“We need to figure out a way to weaponise the signal,” she mused, most of her attention on a miniscule fluctuation on one of the satellites. 

“Sounds like right up my alley,” Patrick popped up behind her.  “I’m a weaponising kinda guy."

He had a point.  What Patrick didn’t know about weapons really wasn’t worth knowing, but there was a difference between something that he could hold in his hand and tuning a particular waveform into a signal of mass destruction.

“We need to set up a contrawave,” she said correcting the variation and then spinning on her chair to look at her teammate.  “Something that will disrupt the 456 in every way we can come up with.  I know you’re not much into programming…”

Patrick shrugged.  “It can’t be any more difficult than helping my grandfather program his sound system.  Although why he needs to have all that equipment hooked up to his TV when his favourite show is “Iron Chef” I don’t know, unless he just enjoys the sound of cooking food in surround-sound…”

That made Toshiko snort.  She’d heard so many stories about Patrick’s family that sometimes she wondered if he wasn’t just making stuff up.  “It’s a bit harder than that,” she corrected.  Turning back to her terminal, she pulled up the wave signature of the 456’s communications network.  Sending it to the secondary monitor, she swivelled back around.  “This is the main bandwidth,” she pointed out.  “We need to twist it somehow to make it hurt the 456.”

Patrick squinted at it.  “Well, a bit more complicated…yeah, I see what you mean.  It’s not something I can just mess up really badly until it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard, is it?”

“Afraid not.”

He sighed.  “You’ve done so much these last several days, I feel like it’s been all on you and Owen.”  He looked somewhat guilty.

She was touched by his concern.  “Don’t worry; Kathy will yell and scream at me when she sees me and complain about me working too hard again.  Besides, we all have our strengths, and right now it seems to be me and Owen.  There’ve been assignments before where it was all on you.”  She grinned.  “After all, you’re the guy who decided that taking down a dragon with a coffee urn was a really great idea.”

Patrick tried to look stern, but the smile that peeked out of his eyes gave him away.  “It’s not like Ianto doesn’t like coffee, you know.”

“But taking a bath in it?” Toshiko laughed.

“Give him and Jack time, I’m sure it’ll be a kink they’ll try at some point…if they haven’t already.”

“Jesus Christ, Delaware!” Owen exclaimed, making overwrought gagging sounds as he joined them, “don’t give them ideas!  I’ll have to swear off coffee if Harkness decides to use it as a sexual aid.”

Toshiko literally choked on her laughter.  She really did adore her team, and each and every one of them knew just how to cheer the others up. 

“Owen,” Rhys called over, “Jack wants to talk to you about Ianto again.”

“Yeah, stupid Dragon Boy and his stupid wings.”  The medic stomped over to where Rhys was holding the phone.  Despite his disparaging tone Toshiko knew that he was worried about their dragon being hurt. 

“Look,” Rhys said, coming to join them, “you know I’m not the tech wizard of this lot, but I don’t understand why we just don’t send that scream back at them?”

“What scream?” Toshiko was confused.

“The one that came from the kids that first time,” he pointed out.  “It seemed to me like those bastards were tuning themselves in to the kids, and it was flipping obnoxious.  Why don’t we make them have to deal with it too?”

Toshiko’s mouth dropped open.  Certainly it couldn’t be that simple…

She quickly got into mainframe once more, pulling up the recording that Rhys had taken that first day out on the Plass.   The horrible shriek filled the room, and she had to turn the gain down on her speakers when she received a dirty look from Owen. 

Toshiko threaded the signal dynamics through her waveform converter, and she stared at it for several seconds before flipping it over to Patrick.  “Tell me what you see?”

Patrick was silent for several seconds.  “It’s different from the chanting.  It’s much more…I think discordant is the word.  The up and down thingies are all out of whack.”

Toshiko snorted; she couldn’t help it, because Patrick knew very well what the ‘up and down thingies’ actually were.  “The crests and troughs are totally different,” she agreed.   They were much shorter in form than the one used to send the chanting.

“Do you think we could use this?” he asked, looking hopeful.

“Well, the least we can do is give the 456 a migraine.”  This was something they could work with.  “Good work, Rhys.”

Rhys shrugged self-deprecatingly.  “Just made sense.”

She smiled at him.  “Between you and Alice, we might just have a viable solution here.” 

Owen rejoined them.  “I take it the brainiacs have come up with a plan?”

“We think so,” Toshiko said.  “Can I get the readouts from the kids during the episodes of chanting?”

“Sure.  Oh, and Jack’s gonna ground Ianto and Rhys, he wanted to know if you could make the arrangements for their pick up.”

“Yeah, no problem.”  Rhys clapped him on the shoulder and then headed back to the phone.  “Looks like my lot in life is to be the bloody secretary.”

“No, man,” Patrick said, “that’s Deborah.  You’re the phone operator.”

Rhys flipped him off, and then picked up the phone to make the call he’d need to make.  “Did Jack give you a pick up point?” he asked Owen.

“Oh yeah.  It’s written down there by the phone.”

Rhys dug around the phone, finally picking up a single piece of paper.  The look on his face was priceless.  “You must’ve really passed that shitty handwriting course they gave you in medical school, mate.”

“Top of my class, Williams,” Owen answered, sounding snooty.  “Top of my class.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” 

Toshiko shook her head, getting back to work.  It seemed as if the weight of the world ending was finally lifting.  She took a deep breath, launching herself back into her codes.  They would perhaps only have one chance at this, but she was feeling confident that they would be able to send the 456 back to where they belonged.

 

**********

 

Ianto landed painfully amid a small copse of trees, barely holding in the hiss as his injured leg refused to take his weight.  His damaged wing also would not fold away as usual, and he found himself practically collapsing onto the grass, panting harshly as muscles relaxed and pain arched through his back and head.

He knew he wouldn’t be getting back into the air again.  The pain had been at least tolerable while flying; the chill of the upper layers of air – which he’d usually not have noticed – had soothed the hot throb in his wing, and the updrafts had kept him from tumbling back to Earth.  But now, back on the ground, the dragon knew he’d never be able to lift off with the damage that had been done. 

The dragon had seen Martha and Tom’s vehicle pull into the obscuring trees, and had instantly become worried.  He’d circled low enough to see Jack get out of the back, his orange jumpsuit startlingly bright against the trees, waving him down to join them.  Honestly, Ianto hadn’t wanted to, but there had been no choice. 

At least they’d managed to get into Wales without being stopped.  It felt like he was home as he laid there, trying to control his breathing as he felt overused muscles quiver slightly, the worried questions from his mate a droning in his ringing ears.  He blinked as Jack approached, closing his eyes as a comforting touch stroked along his jaw. 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” Jack’s voice washed over him.  “You’re grounded.  No more flying for you.”

“Jack’s right,” Martha agreed.  Her voice was worried, and while he might have been content to let Jack comfort him, Martha being in doctor mode was something else entirely, and he opened tired eyes to look at them.

“We can’t stay here,” he murmured, too much in pain to raise his head.

“No, we can’t,” Jack agreed.  “But you’re not flying anymore, love.  We have it worked out, so don’t worry, okay?  Let’s let Martha and Tom look you over.”

Ianto didn’t even get a chance to answer before Jack was curling up on the ground and gently pulling the dragon’s head into his lap.  He relaxed instantly, Jack’s fingers warm against his chilled scales and the familiar scent of his mate filling his nostrils.  He closed his eyes once more as he let Martha and Tom examine him, jerking only once when someone – Tom, by the size of the hand – tried to test the range of motion in his wing joint.  He was too tired to growl at the treatment, but he did know they needed to check to see just how damaged it was.

At one point Martha asked him to open his eyes, and she flashed a light in each one.  Ianto grumbled and tried to pull away, but Jack’s hands were strong on his face and he couldn’t escape the sharp sting of agony in his head at the rude brightness.

“We have at least a concussion,” she said quietly, hopefully in deference to his pounding head.

“I thought _we_ might,” he admitted, his teasing her of the use of ‘we’ in her statement falling flat.

Jack made a displeased noise.  “You should have gotten yourself taken care of first,” he scolded softly, practically murmuring in the dragon’s ear.

“I couldn’t,” Ianto admitted.  “I didn’t want you to wake up alone…but I was too late, so all I could do was get you out of that horrible place.”  He hadn’t been about to leave his mate in UNIT’s hands.

“And I appreciate the rescue,” Jack said fondly.  “But if anything happened to you…” he trailed off, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Ianto’s crest.   “I close my eyes and see them trying to hurt you, and I don’t know what I would have done if they’d succeeded.”

“I feel the same way.”

Jack lifted his head away, and the dragon instantly missed the closeness.  His mate’s fingers began stroking once more, and Ianto sighed. 

Martha and Tom settled in beside them, and Ianto could tell by their expressions that it wasn’t good.  “Tell me,” he requested, needing to know what damage had been done.

“You’ve got a dislocated wing joint,” Tom answered, his eyes warm and worried.  “We’re gonna have to get that pushed back into place and then splinted.  You really are grounded, Ianto.”

“For how long?”

“At least a month.  Maybe more, depending on any scans Owen will want to take once we get to Ddraig Llyn.”

The dragon was almost too tired to sigh over the news.  “And my leg?”

“That looks like just a strain,” Martha replied.  “Your knee is swollen and it’s going to be painful for a couple of weeks.  You also have damaged patches of scales, and those will have to grow back and until they do, you’re going to be vulnerable in those areas.  It also looks like you’ve got a few twisted scales on your back, and if you were human I’d say it was gonna bruise.”

“It already has,” he confirmed.  The pain and tiredness was really beginning to drag him down, but he didn’t dare sleep, not yet.  If UNIT found them, then at least he still had his flame.  “Why did we stop?” he wanted to know.

“We managed to get this far without UNIT catching up,” Jack answered, “but we really need to hide the car and get another vehicle to drive.”  He sighed.  “If my vortex manipulator were working – and if it hadn’t been confiscated by Oduya and his bully-boys – I could have just teleported us all there.”

Ianto was too tired to nod, but he couldn’t help the flash of the anger he still held against the Doctor.  Jack had done nothing to earn the Time Lord’s condemnation at having a working wrist strap, and his mate hadn’t misused it at all.  The Doctor had had absolutely no reason to censure Jack the way he had, stripping away the wrist strap’s functions until nothing was left except data storage. 

He hadn’t been the only one to be furious about the situation, so that made him feel a bit better, knowing that his adopted family had stood with Jack.  He’d been genuinely upset over it, and Ianto had wanted nothing more than to flame the Time Lord into his next regeneration.

“I talked to Rhys,” Jack went on, “and he suggested he get us a lorry with a flat bed and send it out to us.  It won’t be all that comfortable, but at least you won’t have to change back to human in order to get where we need to go.”

That made sense.  Ianto felt himself relax a bit more into Jack’s lap, and he exhaled in relief. 

“It does mean though, that we’re pretty much out of anything else that’s going to happen.  It’s going to be up to our team to finish things up.”

“We can trust our team,” the dragon murmured.  “Do they have a plan?”

“Yes, they’re going to use the Archangel Network to broadcast a signal back to the 456.  Toshiko seems to think they’re onto something that will at least do some damage.”

Ianto didn’t answer; he just let out a small huff to let Jack know that he was still awake, but he knew that wouldn’t be for much longer.  He hadn’t thought he could sleep with as much pain as he was in although that didn’t seem to stop him from drowsing, his mind floating.  Yes, he was concerned about his family, and yes, he was worried that UNIT would find them before the transportation Rhys had arranged would arrive, but he just didn’t have the strength to deal with it any longer.

A soft humming reached his ear, and knowing that Jack was there, trying to soothe him, relaxed him even further.  Despite his own need to stay awake, or at least aware of his surroundings, the sound eased him into sleep.

 

 

 


	28. Chapter 28

**_19 September 2009_ **

                                     

Jack couldn’t express just how worried he was about Ianto.

His dragon was overly protective; case in point his coming to Jack’s rescue despite his own injuries.  But that self-same dragon had just fallen asleep with his head in Jack’s lap, without any arguing about it.  It scared him that Ianto could make himself so vulnerable, even if it was just him and Martha and Tom present.  UNIT was out there, possibly close by, and yet there the dragon was, sprawled out on the ground, lost to the world around him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him this hurt before,” he admitted, glancing up at his friends as they sat next to the pair. 

Martha cocked her head at him.  “Has he ever told you about the time he and I were in Japan, hiding from the Master’s troops?”

“No,” Jack admitted.  There were so many things about that Year that both of them had purposely blocked out, and he hadn’t asked too many questions about Ianto’s time travelling the world with Martha.

The young woman settled closer to Tom, who put his arm around her.  “Well,” she began, “we’d been travelling for about five months when we made it to Japan.  We told the story the Doctor had wanted us to, and had arranged to take a ship out of Nemuro, on Hokkaido, and then we’d planned to sail the Pacific Rim, making stops along the way.  The Resistance had managed to get us connections from Tokyo and up through the main part of the island, and then over to Hokkaido.  The problem was, the day we were scheduled to leave the Master’s troops showed up and began looking for us.

“We don’t know how they found out we were there, but suddenly we were pretty much blocked into Tokyo with no way out.  What made it worse was that there were rumours that the _Valiant_ was on its way to Japan, and everyone knew that was bad news.”

Jack found himself mesmerised by Martha’s story.  He could imagine them, dodging soldiers and trying to find a way out.  He’d known how much danger they’d been in, and suddenly he was so very grateful that Ianto had managed to find Martha and to join her on her quest. 

“Anyway,” she continued, “we finally managed to get away from Japan, even though Ianto hadn’t risked taking on his dragon form, well, for lots of reasons.  But the most important part of them was he didn’t dare.  By the time we’d reached our ship he’d been shot ten times.”

The sadness in Martha’s eyes fuelled Jack’s own, but it also made him wish he could resurrect the Master and kill him all over again.  To think that his mate had endured all that…it broke his heart.

“Six of those shots were what Ianto considered flesh wounds…on anyone else they would have incapacitated them.  I’m sure Owen explained to you about Ianto’s physiognomy?”

“Some, yes.”  Jack knew that, while Ianto’s outer skin was close to a human’s, and just as damageable, it was the epidermal layer underneath that kept the dragon from taking too much punishment. 

“Well, then you’d realise that those six kinda just ricocheted off the inner layer of tough dermis he has.  But those last four…he carried those bullets until we finally got stowed on board the ship waiting for us.   They were some sort of armour-piercing bullet, and they managed to tear through both layers of skin and lodge inside his body.”  Martha took a deep breath.  “One in his upper chest, one in the abdomen, one in his thigh…and the other in his back.  Jack, if he’d been human he would have been paralysed.  But his bones are practically unbreakable, and not even those special bullets could scratch them.  But, I had to take them out myself, and I had to do it while he was awake, because he was afraid he might reflexively change back into his dragon form while unconscious…”

“And if he did that,” Jack finished, his voice choked in horror, “you’d never get the bullets out, not with those scales.”  It took a lot to hurt his dragon’s scales. 

Martha nodded.  Her skin looked grey under her usual dark complexion.  “Yeah.  And if he’d changed back to human, I would have had to reopen those wounds.   I couldn’t do that to him, he’s my friend…”

Jack wanted nothing more than to hug her, but he didn’t want to move the dragon’s head from his lap.  “You did the right thing, Martha.”  He could understand why his mate had never told him that story; it was far too terrible to recall, let alone share with someone. 

She gave him a weak smile, leaning more heavily into her husband’s embrace.  Tom’s arm tightened around her.  “I know, but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.  And, until today, I thought it was the worst I’d seen Ianto hurt.  But this…it’s not the injuries themselves, it’s the accumulation that’s so horrible.”  She sighed.  “At least I know he won’t die from these.  He’s going to have a long recovery, but he will recover.”

“How long did it take, back in Japan?” he whispered.  He thought back on Ianto’s comment about being injured worse than this, and shuddered.

“After the surgery was done?  He changed back to his dragon form and slept for three days straight.  After that, it took him about two weeks to fully heal.   At least he was asleep when the Master wiped Japan off the map.  It was one thing he didn’t have to see.”  There was a growl in her voice that would have made his dragon proud.

“These injuries aren’t that easily healed, as strange as that sounds,” Tom said.  “But he will be fine.”

“I know.”  And he did, deep inside where it meant the most.  “As for now, we’re stuck here, waiting for Rhys’ friend to come and pick us up.”  And they were out of the action, he didn’t say.

_“That is not so, Undying One.”_

Jack would have jumped if he hadn’t had a lap full of sleeping dragon.  He, as well as Martha and Tom, all turned as one to stare at the Fae who stood there, wings beating lazily.  It was wearing the remains of a school uniform, one that Jack recognised immediately. 

“You could warn a person when you’re gonna do that,” he groused, although it was without heat.

The Fae grinned, showing what had to have been every feral tooth in its head.  It looked very pleased with itself.  _“Then I would not have as much fun.”_

Oh, so Jasmine was now a wise arse.  Just wonderful.

“What did you mean by that?” Martha asked, sitting up straight.

_“I mean, dragon friend,”_ the Fae answered, _“that the Fae owe the Undying One and his mate a favour.  This is how we repay it.”_

“A favour?”  Jack was confused for a second, and then realisation dawned.  “For the little boy at Thames House.”

_“As you say.  We took him to the Lost Lands, where he will be happy and cared-for.  You have saved a child, and for that we are in your debt.”_

Jack hadn’t expected that when Ianto had suggested the attempted rescue of the poor kid tied to the 456.  He wondered if his mate had considered it.   “How are you going to repay the debt?” he asked, resting his hand protectively over the dragon’s snout.

_“If you would risk the Lost Lands, we can aid in your travel to the Valley of the Dragon,”_ the Fae answered.  _“There is still much to do, and you cannot do it if you are here.  We will pave your way.”_

Jack stared at the Fae, shocked beyond belief at the offer.  If it meant they could get back to the team faster, then he felt ready to risk it.  However, he couldn’t speak for the others, so he glanced at Martha and Tom. 

“Don’t even say it, Jack” Martha ordered, pointing her finger at him.  “We’re going with you, and that’s that.”

Tom didn’t say anything, but he nodded his agreement.

Jack smiled at them gratefully.  He’d have felt responsible of they’d stayed and UNIT had caught up with them. Then he asked the Fae, “What about Ianto?  I don’t think he’s going to be waking up anytime soon.”

_“We can bear the Ancient One.  He is of magic, and Earth, and therefore a part of him exists within our lands.  He will be welcome.  However, it is less simple to escort humans, and there is risk for your companions, Undying One.  They must be made aware of that.”_

“Martha? Tom?” Jack wanted them to understand that they didn’t have to follow him, that they would wait for the lorry to arrive and drive back to Ddraig Llyn without any condemnation from him.

Martha just snorted.  “Please.  I might be tooting my own horn, but I’m the Nightingale.  I walked the world in order to save it.  What’s taking a stroll through a magical land full of Fae and other things I don’t have a clue about?”

Tom smiled proudly.  “And this is only one of the many reasons I married her.”

Jack shook his head, grinning despite himself.  “I think we’re all in,” he said to the Fae.

The creature nodded, and there was something in those alien eyes that Jack interpreted as respect.  _“Very well, humans.  We shall fulfil our debt.”_ Wings beating rapidly, the Fae launched itself into the air, and the overwhelming scent of roses filled the air.

Jack’s last thought as the world vanished around them was to have Rhys call his friend and cancel their ride.

 

**********

 

The tension in the secondary Hub was so thick Alice felt as if she was walking against high tide.

She could understand it, though.  Not only were things finally coming to a head, but both Jack and Ianto weren’t there, and it didn’t help that Ianto was severely injured according to Owen.  Her chest ached at the thought of her Dad and Tad out there, one of them hurt, running from UNIT and waiting for transportation that _might_ get them to the valley before all hell broke loose.

The twelve-year-old inside her was kicking and screaming for her fathers.  It was all she could do not to bend to temptation, and instead Alice kept whatever calm she had wrapped around her like a tattered coat, needing to remain collected enough to handle what else might come down the road at them. 

At least she had her family, and in most particularly Patrick.  Her boyfriend – and that term made her cringe just a little, because it was such a teenager term and she was long past that – was sitting at the desk, staring at the third of the computer screens that had been set up.  It was crowded with both Patrick and Toshiko sitting at the workstation, but they moved as if they’d done this before.  Perhaps they had; truthfully she’d not stepped foot inside the Torchwood Hub, so she had no idea how the team usually worked. 

There was a line between Patrick’s brows as he concentrated on whatever he was seeing.  Alice knew that Toshiko had asked him to keep an eye on troop movements while she and Owen worked on the Archangel Network.  Alice felt a small swell of pride knowing that she’d come up with the bones of the plan they were working on, but she still felt pretty useless.  But honestly, there was really nothing she _could_ do.  She wasn’t a scientist, or a doctor, or a weapons expert or anything that would be able to help at this moment.  Yes, she had the powers that the Air Dragon had gifted her before he’d disappeared, but they weren’t at all what the situation called for.

Alice found herself out in the kitchen, taking fresh mugs down from the cupboard and pouring two cups of coffee from the heated carafe that Deborah had prepared earlier.  At least she could keep them caffeinated while they worked. 

She took the mugs out into the lounge, sitting one down at Toshiko’s elbow.  Her friend looked up at her and thanked her, smiling tiredly.  Toshiko looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes and her shoulders slumped, and Alice made a mental note to have someone give her a shoulder rub or something to help with the tension in the technician’s back and neck from sitting at that station for the last several days without a lot of rest.  She might even put a bug in Kathy’s ear when this was over.

Patrick’s hand touched hers as she gave him his mug.  He smiled at her, and it was tired thing but it was also genuine.  “Thanks,” he murmured, taking a sip and sighing.  “Has anyone told you lately that you’re an angel?”

Alice found her face heating up at the compliment.  “How’s it going?” she asked, changing the subject.

He sighed, turning back to the screen.  On it was a large map of the United Kingdom, with coloured markings in various places.  “It’s confusing the crap out of me,” he admitted.  “Look, I was in the Army.  Sure, it was in the US but tactics are pretty much the same in times of high threat status, which we are, even though the government is intent on covering this up.  And, let’s face it, their cover story sucks.”

Alice couldn’t argue with that sentiment one bit.           

“Now, there’s UNIT,” he went on.  “Okay, their movements have been as confusing as hell since this whole mess started.  But, since last night, there’s been far more movement than before.  Now, Tosh’s hacking has provided us with an agenda: they’re preparing in case they need to collect the children after all.  It just seems like they’re acting…panicked, and I don’t know why.  The 456 haven’t made any moves even though Ianto blew their ambassador to hell and gone.”

Alice felt pride warm her.  “He’s really a bad arse, isn’t he?”

Patrick grinned like a loon.  “Oh yeah, without a doubt.  And believe me when I say my family is made up of badasses and I know one when I see one.”

She did; Patrick had given her an overview of just who he was related to, and it made her realise just how cut out he was for Torchwood.  “You come from good genetic stock then,” she quipped, smirking.

Patrick rolled his eyes good-naturedly.  “Anyway, it’s just UNIT here in Britain that are acting like their commanders are chickens with their heads cut off.  I’ve checked other countries and everything is as status quo as it can get with the children mysteriously chanting.  The US is at Threat Level Orange, which means they’re taking it very seriously, and they have the military on alert.  Other countries are the same, treating this like a terrorist threat even if they don’t know just how right they are.  Oh, and the SHIELD helicarrier is on the move, and I can’t help but think this has to do with certain phone calls Jack made to my family.  If he’d clued my Dad in, then next on the phone list would have been Uncle Phil.”

“Delaware,” Owen’s voice interrupted them, “you’re the only bastard who has family important enough to have an entire spy organisation come to your rescue.” The medic came into the room from where he’d set up his equipment, carrying a PDA. 

Patrick snorted.  “Maybe, but if Jack told Dad just a small part of what’s going on, then SHIELD would have wanted to get involved anyway.  My folks know I can take care of myself and they wouldn’t be so concerned that they’d have sent Nick Fury out to find me.  No, they’re coming because of the children, and they’ll also be giving the Prime Minister a word or two on the subject when they get here.”

Alice knew that Patrick would never call in his family to fight his own battles, and was proud of him for it.  “So what UNIT is doing isn’t making any sense then,” she said, getting the conversation back on track. 

“Yeah.”  He ran his hand through his hair.  “They are deploying but if there’s a pattern to it I can’t guess it.”

“You’ll get it,” she said confidently, looping her arm about his shoulder.

“You know,” he said looking up at her, a soft smile on his face, “I could kiss you right now.”

“Oh God please no,” Owen moaned. 

There was a muffled sound from Toshiko that Alice interpreted as stifled laughter.  “I hope you have the final readings for me,” she said, not turning.  “I need to finish the upgrades on the neural network before we can even think about broadcasting.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Owen griped, tapping her on the shoulder with the PDA he held. 

Toshiko reached back and retrieved it, thanking him and then favouring him with a teasing smile.  “You really are a closet romantic, Owen.”

“Fuck no,” the medic said, spearing Alice with a glare when she couldn’t keep her own laughter back at the offended expression on his face.  “Romance is for losers.  And I am not a loser.”

“I’ll remember that the next time Diane comes to visit,” Patrick said slyly.  “I’m not so sure she’d agree with you.”

Alice had yet to meet Owen’s mysterious, long-distance relationship, but she’d been surprised to hear about it when she’d been told.  Owen didn’t seem like the sort to settle down with a woman living in Alaska, of all places.  That was quite possibly as long-distance as a person could get.

“Yeah, she would,” Owen snarked, “because there’s nothing more embarrassing than acting all mushy and sugary sweet on someone.  Diane and I have the only adult relationship in this motley crew.”

“If you say so,” Toshiko chuckled.

“I do, and everyone knows I’m a genius, so shut up.”  With a flounce that would have done Jack proud, Owen left the room, heading back into the makeshift medical room where his equipment had been set up.

All three of them cackled after he’d gone, his mock-irate cursing the only thing they could hear from the acerbic doctor.  Alice quite liked Owen; despite his harsh exterior she knew was the true heart of a doctor, and she also knew he hadn’t always been that way.  Personally, she was glad that she’d never met the bastard that had existed before.

Then Patrick began cursing.

That had both Alice and Toshiko staring at him.  While Alice didn’t quite know what his screen was showing him, there was obviously movement going on where there hadn’t been before.

Toshiko also cursed, spinning back to her own screen.  The lines of code that had been on it suddenly was gone, replaced by a window that had various documents displayed within it.  “UNIT’s mobilised,” she said angrily.

 

 

 


	29. Chapter 29

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

“Yeah, that’s what I’m getting,” Patrick confirmed. “What’s the order say?”

Alice’s heart was in her throat, because she knew exactly what UNIT was up to before Toshiko said anything. 

They were beginning to collect the children.

“UNIT’s gone all over the map,” Patrick growled after Toshiko had told them what was going on.  “We’ve also got some movement with the regular Army, too, which makes sense because UNIT wouldn’t quite have the resources to steal all those kids.”

“What criteria are they using to take the children?” Alice wanted to know. “Certainly they can’t be doing this randomly.”

“I don’t know,” Toshiko answered, frustrated.  “With the Thames House server down, I can’t get into the government files.  I’ve been working on hacking into the main servers at Downing Street, but most of their docs are on a dedicated network and I can’t worm my way in and whoever is writing these orders isn’t trusting all of the information to anyone else.”

That made sense, at least to Alice.  She was familiar with the idea of secrecy, with hiding everything a person knew.  She’d learned at her mother’s knee, to be able to hide herself and not share her life with anyone.  If she was truthful with herself that was one of the many reasons she and Joe hadn’t worked out; besides the fact that Joe Carter had been a lazy, abusive arsehole who really should have met her Dad.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Patrick snarled, slamming his fist into the desk and making the coffee mug shake.  “We don’t have any way to stop them.”

“No, we just need to stop the 456 from ever coming back,” Toshiko answered.  She was turned back to her terminal, her fingers racing over the keyboard as she input the data that Owen had given her judging from the way her eyes were glued to the PDA’s readout. 

Alice could feel the energy in the air as her friend began working faster.  She hadn’t thought it was possible, but then this was the first time she’d ever seen Toshiko working against time, and it was a little frightening to watch.

This was also the first time she’d seen Patrick like this, as well.  Her…damnit, _boyfriend_ …was urgently moving the cursor around the British map on his screen, highlighting various marks on it as they slowly changed positions.  Alice figured out quickly that the red triangles were UNIT and the blue ones were regular Army, but she obviously wasn’t getting out of it what Patrick was.

It wasn’t until he stiffened that she noticed something wrong.

Patrick stood up so fast that Alice, who had been just behind him, had to stumble back out of the way.  A warm hand on her elbow steadied her, but Patrick was up and heading toward the door before she would react, calling back over his shoulder, “Tosh, you better hurry up, they’re coming this way.”

Alice stopped in her tracks, her heart thumping wildly.  “UNIT’s coming here?”  She couldn’t catch her breath.

“Are you sure?” Toshiko demanded.

Patrick stopped in the doorway leading outside, his hand resting on the knob.  “Yeah, positive.  I’d say we have about an hour before they get here.”

“We can’t let them take any of the children,” Alice said fiercely, thinking of her own little boy who was staying over at the Green Dragon Inn, with Rhiannon’s two.  She would do anything to protect Steven and his friends, even if it meant taking up the gun she’d brought with her all the way from Cardiff.

Patrick favoured her with a sweet smile.  “Not planning on it, Alice.  I think this is where my expertise comes into it.”

“And here you were worried about being superfluous to affairs,” Toshiko said, the sounds of her fingers working at her station accompanying her comment.

“Get the fuck outta here, Delaware,” Owen snapped, coming out of his room once more.  “You have work to do.”

Patrick tipped him a salute that wasn’t at all sarcastic, and then headed out.  Alice was on his heels as he jogged down the path toward the main part of the village.

The secondary Hub had been moved into a once-abandoned house on the edges of the village, up a slight rise and into the foothills surrounding Ddraig Llyn.  It was a bit separate from the rest of the buildings, but it still felt as if it were a part of the village, with its small overlook down into the lake and the cobbles that had been laid down leading into the main areas. 

The Green Dragon Inn sat in nearly the exact centre of the village, and was the largest structure of Ddraig Llyn.  Alice recalled when she’d heard that Ianto actually owned the place, and that it really didn’t do much business because of Ddraig Llyn’s solitary place nestled within the mountains.  There was absolutely something magical about the village, something that a visitor couldn’t help but notice.  To Alice, with her connection to the Dragon of Air, the area practically tingled with power, and was such a calming and peaceful place that there were times when she wished she would never have to leave.

But no, she couldn’t stay.  Alice had her life in Cardiff, and it didn’t matter how she felt.  She had a son to raise, plus she wasn’t about to leave her fathers alone.  They would let Torchwood take over their lives without her poking at them every once in a while.

She followed Patrick down the path and into the village proper, keeping up despite his longer stride.  She was glad she’d taken up jogging, because she would have been out of breath by the time they both barged into the front room of the inn, Patrick making a beeline toward Rhiannon, who was sitting at one of the small dining room’s tables with Estelle, a teapot between them and Moses curled up like a large, fuzzy trivet next to the plate of biscuits.

Rhiannon had turned to greet them, but their faces must have told her something was up because she stood, abandoning her teacup.  “What’s going on?”

“UNIT’s coming here,” Patrick said, not beating around the bush.  “I can’t be sure if it’s because they know we’re here or if they’re after the kids –“

“We need to get the children to a safe place no matter what,” Rhiannon took over. 

Estelle stood as well, and Moses had perked up as if the cat knew something important was happening.   “Where can we take them, Rhiannon?”

The Welshwoman chewed her lip in thought, and then her face cleared.  “We can hide them up in Ianto’s old nest,” she answered.  “We keep the place clean and ready for when he comes for a visit.  I’ll find Johnny and have him go up and light the fire pit up there –“

“No,” Patrick interrupted.  “We can’t have anything giving away their location, if UNIT is really coming for them.”

Rhiannon nodded.  “Okay, I see the need for that.  We’ll make due with blankets.  It’s chilly up there, and I don’t want any of the little ones taking cold.”

She bustled off, and Patrick turned to Alice.  “Help her get things ready for the kids,” he said.  “I’m gonna find Rhys and get him to translate for me because I don’t speak a word of Welsh…well, except for the cuss words Ianto’s taught me, and I need to be able to get my message across to the villagers who don't speak English.”  He grabbed her shoulders gently and pulled her forward, kissing her briefly before he was out of the inn, and Alice could see him practically running past the large front window in the dining room.

“Mum?”

Alice glanced down at Steven, who was standing beside her looking confused.  She didn’t blame him; too many things had been going on, and this circumstance wasn’t like that Year.  It had been fairly easy to hide certain things from her son then, but with Steven directly involved in events this time it had been difficult to keep anything from him. 

She knelt beside him, her hands resting on his upper arms.  “We’re going to need to hide for a bit,” she explained to him.  “There are some bad men coming, and they’ll want to take all the children in the valley with them.”

“Is it because of the chanting?”

Oh, her beautiful, smart boy.  “Yes, it is.  Your grandfathers are working on it, but we can’t wait for them to get here.”  A stab of worry for both her Dad and her Tad slammed through her, and it was all she could do to keep her composure. 

“They’ll fix it, Mum,” he said with the certainty of a child who had the utmost confidence in his elders.

Alice couldn’t help but smile.  “You know it,” she agreed.  “But until then, we need to keep you and the other children here safe.  How do you feel about staying up in Grandtad’s old cave?  I understand it’s quite nice up there.”

Steven’s eyes lit up.  “Can I really?  I wanted to see it before when we were here but no one would let me.”

Alice knew why:  it was because she’d been afraid that, once Steven had known where Ianto used to live, that he would try to get up there on his own, and the last thing she’d wanted was her only son attempting to make a solo trek up a mountain.   “Yes, because the last time I checked you weren’t a mountain goat and you could have been hurt going up there.  But this time you won’t be going alone.”

Steven managed to look disgruntled and yet pleased at the same time. 

“Now,” she continued, “go and get your bag.”

“Yes, Mum.”  He scurried toward the stairs leading up to the inn’s second floor.

He didn’t get very far.

“Something’s happening,” Estelle said. Alice turned toward her, and instantly saw that the older woman had stiffened, and a golden halo had formed around her irises. 

Alice stood, worried.  “Are you okay?”

Estelle didn’t answer.  Instead, she moved toward the door, Moses at her heels, his tail flicking back and forth like a furry pendulum.  Alice followed, confused at how her friend was acting. 

The gold in Estelle’s eyes was magic, that much Alice knew.  She was obviously sensing something that went beyond UNIT and aliens demanding the human race’s children.  This was something new, something that no one had expected. 

Alice burst out of the inn’s door just behind Estelle, and was at her side as she walked quickly toward the village green.  The sudden, overly sweet scent of roses filled the air, making Alice want to cough.   “What’s going on?” she asked, catching up with Estelle. 

“I don’t know if it’s good or bad,” Estelle said, “but we have visitors.”

There was a single creature hovering over the grass, wings beating almost like a dragonfly’s and glittering in the sun. 

It was a Fae. Alice knew that, even though she’d only gotten a glimpse of the one at Thames House.   It was green, with long spindly legs and claws, and looked less like any sort of faerie she’d ever heard tell of.  There were sharp teeth and black-on-black eyes and it was as alien as Alice could ever comprehend despite knowing that these creatures were of the Earth and had been around almost since the planet had begun.

The Fae touched down on the grass, crouching and glaring up at Estelle as she approached.  Moses hissed angrily, every hair on his body bristling.  _“I come in peace, lady witch,”_ the being growled.  _“Your familiar has no need to defend you.”_

Estelle put her hands on her hips, calling Moses back to her side.  The cat hissed once more, as if to get his message across, and then planted his rear so close to her left foot that Alice thought he might as well sat on it.  “Let me determine that, please,” the older woman answered.  She didn’t sound happy, and Alice couldn’t blame her.  “What are you doing here, Jasmine?”

Alice started.  This was Jasmine Pierce?  The little girl had finally shaken loose of her human form, but if she looked closely she could see the remains of a skirt and blouse that must have once been a school uniform of sorts.

_“We owed the Ancient One and his mate a favour.  This is how we repay those that we are in debt to.”_

With those words, the Fae leapt back into the sky, and a cyclone of rose petals began to spin in the centre of the green.  It was as if a storm had morphed into a veritable garden, containing only blood red petals as it spun until the very air was clogged with them.

The cyclone seemed to coalesce around a single, large area, and for a second it seemed to swirl even faster until the roses gradually vanished, to reveal several shapes sitting on the grass. 

Alice’s heart went into her throat as she recognised them.  “Dad! Tad!” she exclaimed.  Before she even knew she’d moved, she was kneeling beside her Dad, where he was seated cross-legged with her Tad’s dragon head resting in his lap.  He was wearing an ugly orange jumpsuit, and Alice thought it just looked so wrong on him.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Jack greeted her.  He wrapped a single arm around her, pulling her into a fierce hug.  Alice buried her face in his shoulder, ignoring the scratchy fabric of the jumpsuit and gleaning all of the comfort she could from that embrace and his familiar scent. 

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” she whispered, pulling back to look at Jack, and then down at the dragon she considered her second father.  “What about Tad?  You said he was hurt…”

She could tell Ianto was unconscious; he didn’t even react to her when she touched his snout just above the dragon’s sensitive nostrils.  From where she was seated she couldn’t actually see any of the injuries, but if he was that out of it that he didn’t react to her scent or her presence, then it had to be bad.

_“There are still things to do, Undying One,”_ the Fae said, alighting near them. 

“I’m aware,” Jack answered.  “Thank you…for bringing us here so quickly.

_“This debt is repaid.  If you succeed in keeping the children of Earth safe, then we shall owe you yet another.”_

With those words, the Fae disappeared in another swirl of rose petals, leaving them all alone on the green.

Although it wasn’t really alone.  Once the Fae had gone Alice noticed that her fathers’ arrival had drawn out the majority of the village, as well as the rest of the Torchwood team.  They were surrounding the new arrivals, which included Martha and Tom, and that made Alice just a bit guilty for not noticing them before.  Of course she’d known that the four of them had been travelling together, but still…well, she’d been distracted by her Dad and the condition of her Tad, which she felt was completely justified.

Alice heard a familiar grumble and the crowd made way for Owen, who was carrying a large case and a scanner of some sort.  “Everyone out of the bloody way,” he griped, “I’ve got a patient to see to.”

“You don’t trust me, Owen?” Martha quipped, raising a single eyebrow.

“Sorry, but while I know you’re a good doctor, Ianto is my patient,” he answered unapologetically.  “I know his physiognomy better than anyone and I’ve always been the one to take care of him.”  Then he rolled his eyes as he set his medical kit down next to the unresponsive dragon. “And yeah, I know you took care of him during that shit with the Toclafane, but I’m still the expert here.  So if you don’t mind I’ll just do my job.”

Alice would have thought that Owen would have insulted Martha, but she simply shook her head and looked amused.  “He has a concussion,” she did say. 

“Not surprised considering he took a building to the head,” Owen said in exasperation.  He was using the scanner, and although Alice couldn’t make out anything from where she was sitting she knew the doctor had to be examining the damaged wing.   “Well, this isn’t good.”  He sighed.  “Dragon Boy, how do you get yourself into this shit?”

“It’s a talent,” was the faint reply.

Alice looked down at her Tad’s head, where it was cushioned on Jack’s lap.  The large eyes were cracked open just enough to see what was going on around him.  His gaze found her, and those eyes crinkled at the corners even though he didn’t actually smile.  “Hey, Tad,” she greeted him, “you really need to stop doing stuff like this, okay?”

“To be fair,” he answered her weakly, “I don’t set out to have buildings fall on top of me.  And it’s only happened once.”

“Three times,” Jack corrected, his hand stroking along the dragon’s jaw.

Ianto looked confused.  “Three times?  I don’t remember that…”

Alice felt scared.  Even though she hadn’t been a witness to the previous times buildings had gone down around her Tad, she’d heard of them, and it frightened her that he obviously couldn’t recall those other times himself.

Something must have shown on her face, because Martha leaned forward and took her hand.  “If the concussion’s bad enough, there can be memory loss.  It’ll all come back to him once the injury’s healed.”

“Thanks,” she said, instantly relieved. 

Martha winked at her, acknowledging her gratitude.

The rest of the team had gathered around their dragon, and everyone looked relieved.  Toshiko and Deborah each had a hand resting on Ianto’s scales, out of the way of Owen working around the damaged wing.  Rhys and Patrick were watching, but they were also talking quietly, and Alice figured out that it had to be with UNIT’s approaching.  Estelle had moved around them and was standing just behind Jack, her hands resting on his shoulders in a show of comfort, and he was smiling slightly up at her in thanks.  Sometimes it surprised Alice to remember that her Dad and Estelle had been lovers, and that they still loved each other very much, even if they’d both moved on. 

Steven had managed to worm his way through the crowd to curl himself up against Ianto’s chest and between the large, dangerous claws.  Yet another bit of strangeness in an already strange life: something as fierce as a dragon was also one of the gentlest beings on the planet; unless of course his family was being menaced.  Then nothing was held back in defence of those he loved.

Her son looked up at her with large, scared eyes.  “Grandtad’s gonna be okay, isn’t he Mum?”

Alice smiled down at him.  “Yes, he’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah, kid,” Owen confirmed, not ceasing the scanning he was doing.  “He’ll be fine.  It’s just gonna take awhile.”

“Thanks, Dr Owen,” Steven said sincerely.

Owen grumbled something under his breath, but he looked pleased.  Alice knew, under that gruff exterior was just an old softie, and this confirmed it for her.

“What’s been going on?” Jack inquired.  She should have known he’d be able to pick up on the tension-filled atmosphere around them.

“Owen and I are pretty certain we’ve found a way to defeat the 456,” Toshiko answered, her fingers gently stroking one of the dragon’s well-muscled legs.  “I have to reconfigure the neural interface for the Archangel Network to more closely resemble a child’s mind, but we can then we’ll be able to send through a contrawave that should disrupt – or even destroy – their ship, which is currently hiding behind the Moon.”

“Good work you two,” Jack said.  “When will that be ready?”

“In about an hour,” she replied.  “But it might not be ready soon enough.”

“What do you mean?”

Patrick then stepped forward.  “UNIT’s on the way, Jack.  They’ll be in Ddraig Llyn in just about an hour.  It’s gonna be cutting things very close.”

Jack frowned.  “Do they know we’re here?”  His hands reflexively tightened over the dragon’s head.

“Either that…or they’re coming for the children.”  Patrick shrugged.  “I’m leaning toward them wanting to snatch the kids.”

Jack nodded.  “Oduya said something about that. He was a bit freaked out that Ianto had flamed the one in Thames House, and was looking for some sort of retribution.”

“The ship hasn’t moved,” Toshiko replied.  “I’ve even been on the line with Jodrell Bank and they’ve got eyes on the area we’re sure the ship would appear from.”

“Then we have some time.”  Jack looked at each of them, lingering a bit longer on Alice.  His blue eyes were fiercely determined.  “There’s no way in hell that UNIT is going to take anyone from this valley.  We need a plan, people.”

 

 

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

_“I can’t talk long,”_ Kathy said over the computer.  _“We got hell breaking loose in Cardiff, and I’ve got every officer on the books out there trying to get things back under control.”_

Toshiko actually had the window with Kathy’s office computer on it minimised, but that didn’t really matter.  She knew her spouse was moving around; she could hear Kathy bustling about, and Toshiko wished she could be there to help.

“The government and UNIT are going after the children anyway,” she said as she worked her open window, lines of code flying past as she manipulated the Archangel Network’s neural relays into a form that would be compatible with the signal they needed to feed into it. 

_“Yeah, the Army’s trying to tell everyone that it’s some sort of inoculation programme, to stop the children from chanting.  No one’s buying it, though, and it’s causing trouble in the streets.  We’ve already had reports of rioting and the A &E’s are getting ready for casualties.  Parents aren’t about to give up their children…no way, no how.  They’re fighting the Army every step of the way.”_

‘Good for them.”  Toshiko wished she could be there, but Kathy was the best copper she knew – even if she was just a bit biased – and could handle things just fine. 

_“Cardiff’s used to weirdness.”_ Toshiko heard the unmistakable sound of a gun slide being pulled back; Kathy was only one of two on the regular force that were authorised to carry weapons, and it had been allowed because Torchwood had asked.  Jack had argued that both Kathy and Andy, being Torchwood’s liaisons, would most likely see some of the most intense action, and he’d said that he’d only feel safe if they were able to take care of themselves.  Both Jack and Ianto had seen to their training, not that Kathy had really needed it, and had been certified under Torchwood’s strict guidelines.

“Be careful, okay?” Yes, she knew that Kathy was perfectly capable of doing her job, but she still couldn’t help but worry…just as Kathy would worry about her.

_“I will be.  I had a meeting with the Lord Mayor and he’s given me carte blanche to kick the Army out on their arses.  No one’s declared martial law, so they really don’t have the right to be in my city.  I know he went directly to the Prime Minister and got blown off, so he’s not at all happy.”_

“Let him know we think we might have a plan.  Hopefully we’ll know soon whether or not it’s going to work.”

_“You got it.  Now get back to work, and I’ll go and save the city from anarchy.”_

Kathy said that last part in such a dry tone that Toshiko had to laugh.  “Yes, go and be impressive, and we’ll kick alien arse.”

_“That’s my Tosh!  See ya when this is all over.  Love you.”_

“Love you too.”  She didn’t bother shutting down the connection.  If this went as they all hoped, she’d want to let Kathy know as soon as possible. 

“How’s it going?” Jack’s voice didn’t startle her, and she smiled as a warm hand rested on her shoulder.

“The recalibration of the network is just about done,” she reported, still working.  She quickly found an error in the programming and corrected it with a single keystroke.  “Then I can send the signal that Owen and I created.”

“Good.  Everyone’s about ready, and if Patrick’s calculations were correct we should be expecting company anytime now.”

Toshiko hadn’t really listened to the planning, too caught up in what she’d needed to do in order to stop the 456.  But she trusted her team, and would trust in their plan. 

“Kathy says the residents of Cardiff are resisting the Army and UNIT.”

“From the radio at the inn, it’s the same all over the country.  Ah…I love the smell of anarchy in the morning.”

Toshiko rolled her eyes.  “It’s the afternoon, Jack.”

“It has to be morning somewhere!” 

She shook her head in disbelief.  No matter how bad it got, they could always count on someone to make any kind of joke.

Then Jack’s voice turned serious.  “Toshiko, you have been amazing during this crisis.  What you’ve managed to do has been beyond anything we could have hoped.”  She felt him press a kiss into her hair.  “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

She turned her head just enough to look him in the eye.  “Then I expect to be able to sleep for at least a week after this is over, okay?  I’m knackered.”

He laughed.  “Yes, ma’am.”  He moved away from her chair, his borrowed boots clomping against the floor.  He stopped at the door.  “Keep yourself locked in, alright?  Owen’s going to be in here with you, but I don’t want any of the troops coming to be able to get in, not easily.  You’re the heart of the plan, Toshiko.  Besides, we’d really hate to lose you for any reason.”

Warmth bloomed in her chest.   “I’d hate to be lost,” she quipped. 

Jack winked at her, and then turned and left the secondary Hub.

 

**********

 

“Jack,” Estelle said, her eyes glowing faintly gold, “several large vehicles have just crossed the wards I laid on the road into the valley.”

“Thanks, Estelle.”  Jack put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.  He reached into the pocket of his borrowed trousers and pulled out the walkie-talkie that one of the residents of Ddraig Llyn had had in his cellar, clicking the button to gain everyone’s attention.  “They’re on the main road,” he said into the transmitter.  “They’ve just passed the wards.”

Several versions of, _“Copy that,”_ came back to him, some of them in Welsh.

Jack took a deep breath.  He hadn’t led a battle in years, and this one was depending on civilians with hunting rifles and various other types of ancient weaponry.  His own team had their parts to play, and not for the first time he felt the very real terror of sending them out into danger, where they could be hurt…or killed. 

He glanced up toward the mountains, knowing his mate was up there, on the trail leading to the cave where the kids had been hidden.  The path to the nest had been made human-sized, so therefore Ianto had been unable to make it up there without use of his wings.  He was then keeping watch from the very perch where Jack had met him, curled up on the sun-warmed rock, dozy from concussion and the dragon-sized dosage of painkillers Owen had given him when they’d reset his damaged wing joint.  It had taken several torn sheets to make enough bandages in order to bind the wing down.

Jack desperately wanted to forget the awful grinding sound of the joint being forced back into place, and the roar of pain that had echoed over the village.  He shivered just thinking about it.

He set his shoulders under the borrowed shirt he was wearing.  It wasn’t his usual style, but it would do, as would the hunting rifle resting on his shoulder.  He considered his clothes and Webley that UNIT had taken from him, and vowed to retrieve them, as well as his coat and his wrist strap, when this was all over.

Then he got his mind back on business.

The plan was simple: stall or stop the troops on their way into the valley, giving enough time for Toshiko to finish the upgrades to the Archangel Network and to broadcast the signal she and Owen had come up with to incapacitate or destroy the 456.  Even if she didn’t manage to do that – and Jack had complete faith in his genius – they would keep UNIT and the Army from taking Ddraig Llyn’s children.  Nothing would get past them.

_“They’re coming up the road,”_ the unmistakable voice of John Ellis said through the walkie-talkie.  _“There are two military trucks and a school bus.”_

“Are there any other kids in the bus?” Jack asked.

_“I can’t tell…no, the bus is empty.”_

Jack felt a sudden burst of relief at that.  The last thing they would need would be to have any other children involved, although there was no guarantee that these soldiers wouldn’t have picked up any others once they were finished with Ddraig Llyn.  After all, they hadn’t been able to come up with the criteria that the government was using to select their chosen children.  It had been a stab in the dark during the Gold Command meeting that they would choose kids who the Cabinet thought wouldn’t be a use to mankind, but it made sense.  But why then choose the kids here?  Although Jack had no real idea, he thought the children in the area had the best education possible, with grades in the upper tier for schools in the UK. 

He supposed it didn’t matter.  The government was actually going to go through with this, and even if it would be a temporary measure, since Jack was fairly certain they would get rid of the 456 eventually, it needed to be stopped.

The rumble of heavy engines began to come closer, and Jack turned, looking down past the village green to the road that came into Ddraig Llyn.  It was one-laned, with mountains on one side and the lake on the other, making it difficult to navigate down.  Jack could see the grill of the lead truck as it came around a corner about a half a mile down the road, taking up the entire width of it as it made its way toward where Jack was standing in the middle of the roadway.

The sound of air brakes sounded as the driver must have caught sight of the human-sized road block with the rifle propped up on one shoulder.  Jack found himself missing his greatcoat, knowing it would have made him look that much more dashing than the trousers and roll-neck sweater he’d had to borrow.  It was better though than standing there with bare feet and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.

A soldier wearing a bright UNIT beret climbed down from the driver’s cabin, leaving the passenger side door open as if prepared for a quick retreat.  He walked toward Jack calmly if warily, and Jack could see by the insignia on his uniform that he was a major. 

Jack gave him his best come-hither smile.  “So, what brings a gorgeous group of soldiers out my way?”

“Excuse me, sir,” the major began politely, “but we need you to leave the road so we can continue up into the village.”

“And just what do you want in the village?”  He settled the rifle a bit more comfortably on his shoulder.

The major tensed up a bit, not that Jack could blame him.  After all, here was a single stranger standing in the way of two trucks and a bus, acting as if the gun he was so negligently carrying was just so much weight.  Jack knew it wouldn’t matter how innocent he’d seem, the man wouldn’t believe that he wasn’t up to no good.

But then, of course Jack wasn’t.  He was out to save lives, and in his opinion it didn’t matter what he was doing as long as no one was hurt or killed.  There had already been enough of that.

“We have orders to collect the children of the village in order to implement an inoculation programmethat will stop them from chanting,” the major answered, sounding rehearsed. 

Jack laughed in his face.

The major’s expression was priceless; it was a combination of _‘am I dealing with a raving lunatic’_ and _‘how do I get by him without shooting him’_.  Jack actually found it vastly entertaining.

“Please, sir,” he said carefully, taking a tentative step toward Jack, “why don’t you put the weapon down and we can discuss this?”

Jack levelled a glare at him, his amusement suddenly gone under the weight of the soldier’s condescension.  “Yeah, no.  Don’t think so.  You see, you’re not getting any closer to my home than this.  We won’t let you take our children, and nothing you can say or do will change that.  Because you see, we know exactly what’s going to happen to them if we let you find even one, and there’s no way in hell we’re letting the government get away with anything.”

The major stopped moving forward.  “I don’t know what you mean, sir,” he answered, trying to sound conciliatory.  “This is just a way to help your village’s children.  Don’t you want them to stop the chanting?”

“We’ve already taken care of that.  Although I’m not surprised Green and his sycophants are still letting this charade continue.” 

Jack could explain.  He could tell these men and women exactly what was going on; get the truth out in the open for everyone to hear.  The problem with that was they’d most likely think him insane and drag him out of the way.  Certainly, the UNIT personnel would understand about alien invaders and such, but the regular Army types wouldn’t, and it would behove UNIT to hide that sort of thing from the normal troops anyway.  Because, despite the Earth being dragged to another part of the galaxy and Daleks raining death down from the skies, there were still too many people who were perfectly willing to believe whatever their officials told them to, and after the terrorist threats that had surfaced just since 9/11 had the very real danger of gas and poison attacks in the forefront of everyone’s minds. 

It wouldn’t do him any good to be honest with these interlopers. 

“Sir, you need to move out of our way before someone gets hurt.”

Jack looked the UNIT major straight in the eye.  “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not alone on this lonely stretch of road.”  He waved a hand toward the side of the mountain that fell away from the road as it approached Ddraig Llyn, where stone ended and trees began.  “The majority of the people here have learned to hunt before they could practically walk, so what they don’t know about stealth isn’t worth knowing.  Right now, there are fifteen villagers scattered amongst the trees, and another dozen hiding among the rushes by the lake and in the crevasses of the hillside.  If you make any further movement toward our home, they will not hesitate to stop you.”

The man before him paled, his eyes darting around, trying to find the hidden men and women concealed amid their surroundings.  The villagers were just that good; even though Jack knew where to look, he couldn’t catch a sight of anyone.   Estelle was somewhere among the bushes on his right, along with Patrick and Rhys, and yet there was no sign of them at all.  Rhiannon and Alice were on the opposite side, at the lake, and while Jack had tried to convince his only daughter to stay out of it, Alice had insisted and Patrick had backed her up, pointing out that both Dragon Friends had power no one knew about and yet would be helpful if things got out of control.  Plus Jack had heard about Alice’s actions back at her home when the MI5 agents had come, and he’d had been immensely proud of her for it.

“And then,” he went on, giving the major a grin that Ianto wouldn’t have hesitated at calling ‘shit-eating’, “even if you get past us, there’s still the rest of the village.” He made a vague waving motion over his free shoulder where the colourful buildings and homes of Ddraig Llyn stood, as well as the somewhat intimidating stone structure that was the Green Dragon Inn.  “There are quite a few windows overlooking the road, so there are more than enough would-be snipers in those windows.   Then there’s no guarantee in finding our kids, because we hid them.  There are so many caves and hidey-holes in these mountains, and it would take months to search them all.”

The major was looking at him closely.  “You really were expecting us.”  It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, we were.”  Once again, Jack could give an explanation as to how they knew that the troops were coming, but he refrained.  Personally, he wasn’t in the mood to cater to UNIT or to anyone, not after the last several days and especially after what had happened to his mate.  “I probably should also warn you that we have a secret weapon.”  Ianto would enjoy being called that.  “Not that I’m willing to share anything about that, not with you and your stormtroopers.”

“Look,” the major said, respect in his eyes, “we’re only trying to help.”

“No, you’re trying to kidnap kids for the government.  We have the entire scheme, and everyone involved with this will be going down once it all comes out.  Now, I’m pretty sure none of your men really want to be implicated in something they don’t even have the security clearance to know about, so it might go better if you all turned around and headed back out of our valley.”

Jack thought he sounded pretty reasonable, all things considered. 

“I’m sorry,” the man said, truly sounding apologetic, “but we have our orders, and it’s in the best interests of the children.”

“No, it really isn’t,” Jack replied, shaking his head.  “Do you really want to face a village ready to protect its own?  You won’t come out of this unscathed.”  He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but there was no way he was going to let even one child be taken away.  He’d done that before, and he’d regretted it, and they were living the consequences right now.

The major took several backward steps toward the truck he’d exited, and Jack knew he was really going to order his men to try to get through to the children, even though the troop wouldn’t get very far.  Still, it would mean needless deaths, and it saddened Jack that the other man couldn’t see simple common sense.  Didn’t they know what ends a parent would go to in order to protect their children?  Did none of these soldiers have little ones at home? 

Jack kept standing in the middle of the road.  “You’re still going to need to get past me,” he said, pulling the rifle around and into both hands, racking the slide, the sound echoing out over the water of the lake.  “And the only way you’re gonna move me is to kill me where I stand,”

Of course, they would have had no idea who he was, and that he would come back from whatever they did to kill him.  Still, he’d hoped for some sort of sign that these men would have been willing to listen and show some intelligence.

“You should know,” Jack went on even as the UNIT major retreated toward his truck, “that we’re not the only ones fighting back.  There are towns and cities all over Great Britain that are refusing to simply hand over their kids to a cover story no one really believes.  What you do here will be a part of history, and you’re gonna be vilified for it.  So be prepared for what happens next.  You and your families won’t like it.”

The bushes on the side of the road rustled, and the UNIT officer turned toward the sound.  There was nothing visible there, and Jack had to bite back a smirk.  Making the man jumpy could have been fun, if he hadn’t seemed that way already.  Nervous people with guns tended to act rashly and to be honest the last thing Jack really wanted was to end up dead.  It hurt like hell and it would piss off his mate.

Army troops immediately began deploying out of the back of the parked trucks, their guns up and ready.  They looked prepared for anything.

They really didn’t stand a chance.

Jack managed to count twenty-four soldiers before he was ducking several bullets.  He dodged, but he returned to the middle of the road after he was fired at each time.  He felt a distinct tingle against his face, and knew that Estelle was working her magic in order to keep him safe.   Jack stood straight and watched as a couple of bullets ricocheted off something invisible in front of him, as if a personal force field had flared up between him and danger.

There were sporadic shots toward the convoy, but the villagers were, by and large, frugal with their ammunition.  It wasn’t that there wasn’t enough; on the contrary, Jack knew that Patrick had scraped together every bullet, knife, and arrow in the village.  No, it was because the people he had with him were respecting his orders not to be the aggressors, so that when this came out no one could be blamed for their actions.  It would be self-defence, pure and simple, and there would be no extreme circumstances when it would be revealed that it had been soldiers shooting at them at the time.   Especially when they were protecting their families and the Army were the aggressors.

The firing stopped and, into the silence, the mobile that Jack had borrowed from Martha rang.

The ringtone, _Hit Me With Your Best Shot,_ was purely incidental.

 

 


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, everyone...there's just one more chapter after this, which will be posted tomorrow on schedule. I can't believe I've finally gotten the entire thing posted! You have all been amazing with your comments and kudos, you have no idea. All of you out there made writing this monster completely worthwhile. Thank you, everyone.

**_19 September 2009_ **

 

Toshiko knew that staring at the screen wouldn’t make her program run any faster, but she just couldn’t help it. 

They were running out of time.  She was working as fast as she could, but even with Owen’s help in running scenarios it was taking too long.  The rest of the team were out preparing for UNIT’s invasion of their village, and there she was…sitting on her hands and watching the numbers scroll by, seemingly taking forever.

Still, there was progress.  The countdown was slowly reaching conclusion, when the Archangel Network would be reconfigured properly.  It had been Owen who’d pointed out rather forcefully that this wouldn’t work if the harvested brain cells that powered the telepathic circuitry weren’t the right type.  There was a reason that only children were affected, after all. 

Eventually though they’d come up with a way to do it, and it had taken a hell of a lot of programming, but now they were nearing the end.  The timer was spinning outward, ticking down at the rhythm of her heart.  Toshiko rubbed her eyes tiredly, referring to the PDA in her other hand as she finished up with the signal modulation harmonic.  The calculations looked right, and she prayed this would work because the entire world was counting on them.

She could sense the unease in the Earth, through her feet against the floor, shooting up her nerve endings and into the hind-part of her brain.  Toshiko knew that she should be out there with her fellow Dragon-Friends and her team, but she couldn’t.  Not this time.  This time, she was stuck at her terminals, doing her part to destroy the 456 and their hold over the human race.  She had always been loyal to her friends and family, but this was more important.  This was loyalty to the entire planet, to all the races that lived on her.  This was her duty…her responsibility.  And she took that responsibility very seriously.

Toshiko didn’t have to look to know Owen was pacing behind her, gun in his hand and willing to protect their work – and her – if he was called upon to do so.  He’d changed so much since he’d met Diane, and Toshiko felt closer to him now than she ever had before, even when she’d had that ill-advised crush she’d carried around for years.  Looking back, she wondered just what had attracted her to Owen, and she honestly couldn’t answer. 

Her finger hovered over the mouse, tempted to bring up the window with Kathy’s office computer on it.  But Kathy wasn’t there; she was out trying to keep order in Cardiff, which had exploded when the troops had rolled into town.  It was like that all over the country: parents challenging the military over the theft of all of those children, even if they didn’t know the real reason they were being taken.  She could hear a newsreader in the background, where Rhys had left the laptop booted up, and it seemed as if Great Britain was the only country going through with the collecting.  Other countries were postulating on just what the government was up to, and it was causing an outcry.  If England had a cure for the chanting, why weren’t they sharing it?  Apparently there was a press conference scheduled for later in the afternoon, and Toshiko was certain it was just more of Green’s posturing.  He didn’t know what she did, that the 456 hadn’t moved from their hiding place behind the Moon, and Toshiko wasn’t about to tell him.  He should have trusted Torchwood in the first place, and not tried to capture or kill anyone on her team.

A soft chime sounded from her workstation, and it had her attention immediately.  Owen must have heard it as well, judging from his sudden presence at her back, the heat from his body actually calming her nerves just a little. 

“Well?” he demanded.

Toshiko smiled.  “The reconfiguration’s done.  Now we just have to upload the signal and cross our fingers.”

“Well done, Tosh.”  His hand was warm on her shoulder.

Her hands flew across the keyboard, opening the file she’d prepared earlier and sending it through the link to the Archangel Network.  The progress bar seemed to move much quicker this time, and she leaned back against Owen and sighed.  “We’re not sure if this gonna work – “

“Of course it will,” Owen exclaimed.   “How can it fail with two geniuses on the case?”

She turned and smirked up at him.  “You’ve never had much of a sense of humility.”

“Never saw the need for one,” her friend shrugged.  “I call it like I see it.”

Toshiko snorted, just as the computer chimed once more, making her aware that the upload was complete.  She instantly sat up, checking her readings for any anomalies, her anxiousness back in full force.

This just had to work.

“Everything okay?”

“It seems to be,” she acknowledged.  “All we can do it start it up.”

Toshiko’s finger paused just above the ‘enter’ key, praying for success.  They just couldn’t have gotten this far and it not work.

Owen’s hand reached around her, and together they activated the Archangel Network.

It took three very long minutes for results.

After that, Toshiko did the only thing she could do…she picked up the phone.

 

**********

 

Ianto sat on his old perch, looking down into the valley that was his home.

From where he was sitting, he could see the village and the road.  The dragon’s eyesight, although a bit dulled by the pain medications Owen had pumped him up with, could still see his mate as he faced down the soldiers.  Damnit, he wanted to be down there, at Jack’s side, but his injuries wouldn’t let him change his shape at all.  He was stuck as a dragon, and with his head the way it was plus his bad leg there was no way he would be able to make it down the trail on his own. 

He felt worse than useless.

Down there his team was fighting for the children of the Earth.  They were going head-to-head with the British government for the future of this planet.  And Ianto couldn’t do a damned thing about it.

“Grandtad?”

The dragon turned his large head, to see that Steven had come down from the cave.  “You’re supposed to be up in my old nest,” he chided gently.

Steven shrugged, making his way down the path to stand next to Ianto.  “I know,” he admitted, “but I couldn’t, not with Mum and Patrick and Granddad down there.”

Ianto could sympathise.  “It’s dangerous though.  If they see you…”

“Then you can flame them!”  The boy shouldn’t sound so enthusiastic, but all Ianto could do was laugh, even though it hurt his head.

He’d do anything to protect his precious grandson.  They might not have been related by blood, but that didn’t mean Ianto didn’t love him any less.

Steven curled up against his side, and together they watched what was going on down the road.  Ianto couldn’t help but think that Jack would look much more dashing with his coat.  UNIT had better have taken good care of it, or they were going to own them another one!

The sun was warm despite the time of year, and the dragon found himself dozing slightly when the first of the gunshots rang out down below.  He jerked at the sound, and Steven made a noise that seemed to be a cross between fear and surprise.  Ianto watched as Jack dodged, but nothing seemed to have touched him.  To his magical sense, he could ‘see’ the shield that Estelle must have put up to prevent his mate from being shot; it was as if a slightly transparent curtain had come down between Jack and the convoy that had attempted to invade Ddraig Llyn.

“He’s okay,” he told the frightened boy.  Steven may have been told about Jack’s immortality, but he’d never seen it up close and personal, and Ianto hoped he never would.  Alice had kept him away from the Master’s transmissions during the Year of the Toclafane.  “Estelle has him protected.”

He swivelled his head around to look at Steven…and his heart lurched painfully in his chest at the sight of the boy.

Steven was frozen in place, just like all of the children did when the 456 started communicating through them.  His eyes were glassy and staring, almost as if the young boy wasn’t in his head any longer. 

Ianto was terrified.  Had the 456 managed to get past their jamming field?  Were they going to be demanding the children once more?  Today was the time limit on gathering them up, so were the aliens getting ready to announce that they were coming to collect what they wanted?

But, as soon as it happened, it was over, and Steven was blinking up at him owlishly, like he’d just awakened, his face confused.  “Grandtad?” 

Somewhere, down in the valley, came the faint echo of a ringtone.

Ianto thought it came from Martha’s phone, but he couldn’t be certain at the distance.

 

**********

_“It’s done.”_

Jack’s knees almost buckled with relief at Toshiko’s smiling voice on the phone.  _It’s done._   The threat of the 456 was over. 

He’d been through so much in his time on Earth, and as an uncontracted agent, then leader, of Torchwood.  The job wasn’t for anyone who couldn’t handle the stress of it.  But this…these last five days had been some of the worst that Jack had had to get through, and he was pitifully grateful for it coming out all right in the end. 

No more children would be on his conscience. 

At least, not until the next time…and he prayed to deities he really didn’t believe in all that much that there would never be another time.

_“The signal did more than we thought it would,”_ she was still speaking, and Jack had to drag his attention back to what she was saying.  _“The ship exploded just on the other side of the Moon, and Jodrell Bank has confirmation of a detonation in space.  They’re gone, Jack.”_ There was such relief in her words, and he couldn’t blame her. 

“You are an amazing woman, Toshiko Sato,” Jack couldn’t help but grin.  “Remind me to give you a raise.”

_“Don’t forget Owen,”_ she said teasingly.  _“He’s my partner in genius on this.”_

Jack laughed.  “No promises, because he’s a dick.  Now, I have phone calls to make.  Get all the evidence together so we can prove all this.”

_“You got it.”_

Jack disconnected the call, turning to face the troops currently parked on the Ddraig Llyn road.  “I’m going to be calling the Brigadier,” he warned the major, who was staring at him as if he thought Jack was something other than human.  Well, he was…but nothing he’d done warranted that expression.  After all, it hadn’t been him to use magic to save himself from getting shot although he didn’t need to actually know that.  “He’s most likely going to recall the lot of you, so be ready to get the hell out of here immediately.”

The man looked as if he was going to either argue or pass out, but Jack didn’t give him the opportunity to do either one.  He was already dialling the number he knew by heart, needing to call an end to the chaos that Green and Frobisher and the rest of his weak sycophants had caused.

The first step in that:  getting these bastards away from his home.

_“Lethbridge-Stewart.”_

“Good afternoon, Sir Alistair,” Jack greeted him boisterously.

_“Damnit Harkness, I’ve only been trying to reach you for the last two days!”_

Jack felt just a twinge of guilt at that.  He’d abandoned his mobile back at the Hub when he and Ianto had left for London, and he didn’t have forwarding on his office line.  “Sorry about that, sir.  We were being surveilled and we had to leave the Hub.”

_“I figured as much, since I saw your dragon at Thames House.  You should really warn him about drawing attention to himself.  I take it he was the cause of the explosion?”_

“Yes he was, but I’ll get you a full report as soon as the mop-up is over.  Right now, I have a UNIT major and a combination force of UNIT and Army trying to steal the children from the village I’d taken refuge in.  We’re in a bit of a stand-off at the moment, but I’d really like it if you could call them off. Oh, and the other troops around the country as well.”

_“The situation is contained?”_

“More than contained.  We blew them to hell and we have the proof.”

_“Well done.  Oh, you should know that Brigadier Bambera is on her way to relieve Colonel Oduya of his command.  She’ll be the new commander of UNIT Great Britain.”_

“That is good news, sir.”  Jack quite liked Winifred Bambera, and had hated it when she’d retired to raise her twins, as she’d been one of the very few UNIT people who had treated him with respect and not as a possible threat needing to be taken down or an insect that needed to be pinned to some sort of board.  It was great that she had agreed to come back into service, and she would be an excellent commander.

_“Let me get on the horn and recall the troops.  Oh and Jack…please try to stay out of trouble for a bit?  You’re going to give me a heart attack.”_

“Never, sir.  You’re too stubborn to die.”

There was an inelegant snort in his ear, and then the click of the line being disconnected.  Jack folded up the phone and returned his gaze to the UNIT major, who was busily in a conference with an Army lieutenant who didn’t seem to be convinced by what the UNIT man was saying. 

Jack didn’t really care.  He had one more call to make, and he wasn’t above gloating, not in this instance.

He dialled again, and this time the phone was answered by a professional-sounding woman who identified herself as Shelia.

“Prime Minister Green,” Jack requested, sounding just as professional.

_“I’m sorry, but the Prime Minister is in a meeting and cannot be disturbed.”_

In normal circumstances, Jack would have flirted with her.  But this was hardly normal.  “Listen, Shelia, you need to get him on the phone now.  Tell him it’s Captain Harkness of Torchwood, and if he isn’t on the line within the next minute I’ll find a way to add this uncooperativeness to the list.  He’ll know which list I’m talking about.”  The list of charges, which was growing by the minute, but his PA didn’t need to know that.

The woman put him on hold.  Jack hated the hold music used by the Prime Minister’s office, but this was a good cause.  Not even the sleep-inducing song playing in his ear could detract from his good mood.

However, the sharp sound of a bullet could.

Before Jack could turn and bring his own gun up, a second shot was heard, this one coming from near him, just on the side of the road.  He spun and saw Patrick standing, automatic in hand and aimed toward the convoy.

Jack glanced back at the troops, and saw one of the UNIT boys down on the ground, hand clamped to a shoulder.  Blood was seeping through his fingers, while every other gun in the group was aimed in Patrick’s direction.  His weapons expert didn’t look at all fazed by all that weaponry pointed at him.

“No one shoots at my girlfriend,” Patrick growled, the dark look on his face promising retribution.

Jack’s heart thundered in his chest.  He spun on his heel toward where Alice had been undercover, and saw his daughter standing there, defiant in the face of all the weapons, her hands up in front of her in a warding gesture and her hair blowing in a breeze that didn’t exist anywhere else on the road.  He realised at once that she’d figured out that everything was over, that the 456 were defeated, and he knew that she’d acted on instinct, going to Steven to make certain he was all right.  He’d have to have a talk with her about it later, but for now he could relate to the feelings she was having, because once Jack was sure everything was said and done he was going to go to Ianto’s side and not leave the dragon for quite a while.

Instead, Jack turned back to Patrick.  “And when did all this girlfriend stuff happen?” he demanded, one arm cradling the rifle and the other still holding the phone and trying to look forbidding.

Patrick grinned, not at all intimidated.  “While you and Ianto were off gallivanting all over London.”

“It’s about time!” Jack couldn’t keep up the mock-anger and had to smile.  He’d charted their relationship as they’d danced about each other, and honestly he was glad all that tip-toeing was over with.  “And were you going to come and ask for permission to court our daughter?”  Ianto was horribly old-fashioned about that sort of thing, and Jack hadn’t really cared until he discovered just how much the dragon enjoyed the manners involved.

There was a part of him that was trying to tell him off for talking about personal business in front of these soldiers, but Jack found himself not caring.  It was most likely a symptom of the adrenaline rush that had cascaded through his body ever since the trucks had arrived, but it was also a slice of normal that he needed to grab onto with both hands and hold on tight.

“I actually told him he should talk to Tad,” Alice piped up.  She walked toward Jack, doing a good job of ignoring the lethal weapons being flourished in her direction, even if he could just make out the tell-tale shaking in her hands. 

Jack felt very proud of her, knowing she got that courage and determination from her mother.  He might not agree with a lot of what Lucia did, but she’d certainly raised their daughter to stand up for what she believed in.

Once she made it to Jack’s side and was protected by Estelle’s magical shield, she turned toward Patrick, waggling her finger at him.  “I could have handled it, you know.  You didn’t have to act like some action hero protecting the love interest.”

“Hey!” Patrick exclaimed.  “I respect that you’re a total badass, and I would never dream of denying your right to take down the bad guys, but I just thought my way was faster!”

“I’m glad you think so,” Alice said, her voice bland but her face giving away her pleased flush. 

Jack was about to add something to the conversation – enjoying the incredulous looks they were getting from their trespassers – when the atrocious hold music stopped.  _“Haven’t you done enough damage, Harkness?”_ Green’s voice came from the phone.

“I’m not the one who decided to give into the demands of alien terrorists,” Jack retorted.  “I’m also not the one who cut the one organisation out of the loop who could have fixed the situation in the very beginning!”  He took a deep breath, trying to get his sudden anger under control.  Green was being an ignorant prat, and he could deal with the man without letting his temper get the best of him.  “Enough of that.  I’m just calling to tell you that the 456 are gone.  Torchwood took care of the problem.  And, the moment I speak to Her Majesty – and you cannot block me from seeing her, don’t even think about it – you are going to be up on so many charges you’ll be lucky to see the light of day again.  Now, call off whatever plan you think you’re implementing.  I’ve talked to Brigadier Sir Alistair and he’s already arranged to put someone else in charge of UNIT, someone who’s gonna clean house as soon as she can.  It’s over, Green.”

There was silence over the line.  Jack could feel every eye on him, even those waiting back in the village proper.  They were all waiting for what was going to happen next, even those not in the ‘know’ realising just how important this was.

It was as if the world had stopped breathing, awaiting the final outcome of events.

Then there was a sigh in Jack’s ear.  _“Thank you, Harkness,”_ was all that Green said before disconnecting the call.

 

**********

 

Ianto didn’t know what was going on down on the road.  Even with his better than human eyesight, the dragon wasn’t sure what Jack was up to.  His heart was racing; the pulse of his blood throbbing through his injured wing joint despite the good drugs Owen had pumped him full of when the medic had set the dislocation.  He shifted uncomfortably, being careful not to communicate his distress to Steven, who was standing beside him, his hand on the dragon’s shoulder. 

There was a gunshot, and Steven jumped.  Ianto saw someone fall, and he thought it was one of the interlopers into his valley.  The boy started forward, and Ianto tugged him back gently back into his side.  “It’s fine,” he reassured Steven.

“But Mum!”

“Your grandfather and Patrick will look after her.”

“Hey, Dragon Boy…why aren’t you asleep?  Do I need to up the meds?”

That time, Ianto jumped a bit.  He’d been so enthralled with what was going on down below that Owen had managed to completely sneak up on him.   “No, no more medication,” he growled.  “I’ve had enough, thank you very much.  Do you have anything to report?”

Owen joined them, slipping in beside Steven.  “Yep.  Toshiko’s plan worked.  The 456 have been blown to hell and beyond.”

“Steven had a funny reaction,” the dragon said, recalling his grandson’s episode earlier.  “He froze for a couple of seconds.”

The medic nodded.  “Yeah, probably feedback through the wavelength they used to control the kids.  When we punched the signal through, it was the last straw for the telepathic network.  It went blooey about two seconds before the 456’s ship followed suit.  We have lovely proof of the explosion, although it happened just beyond the Moon.  The glow was quite satisfying.”

Ianto finally allowed himself to relax.  It was over.  Those horrible five days were done.  Things could go back to normal – well, as normal as Torchwood did. 

“It seems almost…anticlimactic,” he mused.

Owen nodded.  “Yeah, I get what you mean, although for Tosh and me it was nearly a ball-buster. We had no idea her program would even work, and I swear it was like waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

He could see Owen’s point.  It had been them to have worked the hardest at the solution to their problem, and when they got back to Cardiff he was going to put commendations in their files.   “At least it’s over,” he murmured. 

Ianto was tired, very tired, and he hurt like a bitch.  But it was over, and he was relieved. 

As his eyes tracked down to where the military trucks were, he smiled as the soldiers got back into their vehicles and began to drive out of the valley. 

It was over.  Time to clean up and go home.

 

 

 

**_  
_ **

****


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, the end of the story I affectionately nicknamed The Monster. It took about six months of writing to finish it, and I do hope it was worth it. Thank you, everyone, for your support on this. But I really don't think I could have done it all without my beta, Totally4ryo, who was my number one cheerleader on this. Also, thanks to Madbottoms for the fabulous art pieces that she created for this. 
> 
> Next up...I won't be posting anything again for a couple of weeks. I'm going to Gallifrey One next weekend, and I need to work on a few things. Then I'll be going back to Series Two, so look for that. I also am working on the story for Idycat1170, and she as requested a future fic in this universe. So be on the lookout for those. 
> 
> Anyway, here's the last chapter of "The Breaking". Hope you enjoy!

**_20 September 2009_ **

**_The End_ **

****

The party was in full swing as Alice made her way toward the large tent set up on the village green, where she knew Ianto had been settled into until he was healed enough to change back into human form.  Where Ianto was, Jack would be, and she wanted to just be with both of her fathers, glad that events were finally over and they could relax for a bit.

Her Dad had already had a talk with her about revealing her position during an armed stand-off, and Alice had taken the words to heart.  To be honest she hadn’t even realised she’d stood up before the Army private had shot at her,  she’d used her ability to control the wind even without thinking, and had barely managed to blow the bullet off course before Patrick had come to her defence.  It had given her a warm feeling when he’d called her his ‘girlfriend’, which hadn’t quite sounded as secondary schoolish as ‘boyfriend’ for some reason, and his willingness to let her fight her own battles had made her feel less like a damsel in distress and more like a fully-fledged member of the team.  Still, she had Steven to consider, and she vowed that she’d try to keep herself out of harms’ way in the future.

The residents of Ddraig Llyn milled around her as she got closer to the tent.  Alice truly did feel at home there, although it wasn’t in her to move to the valley permanently.  She couldn’t, even if it was a better environment for her son.  The real world could still intrude, and it wasn’t in her nature to hide them away from everything out there beyond the mountains.  Besides, if she was truthful Alice knew that she’d get bored within a month.  She needed to be out there, just as much as Steven did.  Ddraig Llyn was a nice place to visit, but it was too boring to live in.

Her Dad was indeed within the tent, propped up against her Tad’s side as the dragon slept, head curled up on his muscled front legs.  There was a paleness to his normally vibrant green scales, but Alice knew he was on the road to recovery.  Yes, seeing him there, one wing bound tightly to his back and the still-visibly marks of damage traced on his scales as if someone had taken a black Sharpie and had drawn on the scorch marks was a bit hard to accept.

The rest of the Torchwood team was there, which didn’t surprise her.  The entire team tended to hang around together, even when they were off duty.  The only one missing was Toshiko; she’d decided to go back to Cardiff that morning, wanting to see her spouse and not willing to wait for anyone else to go with her. 

Martha and Tom had also left, borrowing a car from one of the villagers.  Martha had gotten the recall to UNIT not even half an hour after the soldiers had been ordered back to their bases.  The call had come from Brigadier Winifred Bambera herself, asking for Martha and Tom’s help in her housecleaning of UNIT, and they had agreed. 

The rest of the team were going to head home in the morning, Patrick saying he should really return the car he and Alice had stolen and then retrieve her vehicle from the Cardiff Airport.  Besides, with the crisis past Steven would need to head back to school.

Steven hadn’t been very happy to hear _that_.

The only one not going back to Cardiff was Ianto.  He couldn’t change his shape, not with the injuries he had, and so he was pretty much stuck there.  Alice knew that her Dad had wanted to stay as well, but there was far too much to do for him not to go back.   She felt bad; she knew them both so well, knew that one wasn’t truly happy without the other close by, but there were times when there just wasn’t any way around it.  She’d have to keep a close eye on Dad, and thought she should invite him over to stay until her Tad was well enough to travel.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jack called out to her. 

Alice squeezed herself through the gathered teammates – no, _family_ – and managed to find a place to sit next to her Dad, leaning carefully back against her Tad’s warm side.  The way the dragon was lying put his damaged wing out of the way, but she still didn’t want to risk hurting him anymore than he already was.  “Hey, Dad.”

He looked strange in the ‘normal’ clothes he was currently wearing, and not in his usual 40’s gear.  Alice had to wonder if this was what he would have looked like if Torchwood hadn’t gotten in the way of him living his life.  

But then, chances were he wouldn’t have been her Dad then, and she wouldn’t have a dragon for a Tad.  No, that wasn’t something she wanted to consider.

Jack draped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her against him.  “I’m sorry you got dragged into his,” he apologised.

“No need,” she answered, resting her head on his shoulder.  “This is how things are, and I’ve accepted that.”  She had, although it had taken a while for her to do so. 

Torchwood would always be in their lives.  While once that would have made her furious, now she understood it, and the respect for her two fathers had come after that understanding had made itself known. 

“Besides,” she went on, grinning, “didn’t you hear Patrick?  I’m a bad arse.”

Jack chuckled.  “And you come by that quite honestly, too.”  He sighed.  “So, you and Patrick, huh?”

She smacked him playfully in the chest.  “Yes…me and Patrick.”

“Good,” he murmured.  “He’ll treat you and Steven right.”

Alice thought so, too.

“You two look comfortable,” Estelle said, joining them. 

Alice smiled up at the older woman.  She’d grown to love Estelle like a grandmother, and it had ceased to be awkward that she’d once been one of her Dad’s many lovers.  She’d never really get what Jack went through with his immortality, but she did know he needed companionship just like anyone else.

Moses minced his way into Alice’s lap, curling up as if it was his right to sit there.  Alice shook her head at the cat’s antics, running a hand through his fur.  The purr engine started up immediately.

“Have a seat,” Jack invited her.

“Actually,” Estelle said, shaking her head to decline the invitation, “I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the Witness just a short while ago.”

Alice was suddenly hit with how right that sounded, that things had come full circle.  This had started with the visit by Jasmine Pierce to Estelle, to warn her about the Breaking, and now at the end of their adventure she’d returned to talk to Estelle once more.

“She asked me to tell you,” Estelle continued, “that the Fae still owed you and Ianto a debt, and that one day they would repay it in full.”

“I’m not really sure I want the Fae to owe me anything,” Jack admitted.  “I don’t trust them.”

“But it never hurts to have powerful beings owe you, Dad,” Alice pointed out.  “You might never have to call it in, but it’s there just in case.”  She really didn’t trust the Fae either, after the stories she’d been told by Owen and Toshiko, but could see the sense of holding something over the heads of a race that might come in handy someday.

She felt her Dad shrug, and she knew he wouldn’t willingly call in that debt if he could possibly help it. 

“I know, Jack,” Estelle said quietly, “and it’s fine.  Just don’t let your hatred of the Fae blind you to a need you might have in the future.”

“She’s got a point, Dad.”

Jack laughed.  “So, now my two best girls are ganging up on me?”

Alice jabbed him playfully in the ribs.  “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I should sic the pair of you on UNIT,” he threatened.  “They wouldn’t dare stand in your way.”

Alice was aware that UNIT had been implicated in the attempted kidnapping of children all over the country, and that the organisation was undergoing a full investigation by the UN and the British Government...what was left of it, that was, after Her Majesty got done with it.    “At least we can pick up your clothes and belongings as we kick their arses.”

Jack snorted.  “Winifred has that well in hand.  I don’t know why nearly all the women I know are so scary, but it lets me sit back and watch them in action, so I can’t complain at all.”

“That does include Her Majesty I assume?” Estelle teased.

“It doesn’t matter how old she gets, Lizzie is a force of nature, especially when she finds out you’ve gone behind her back.  From what she’s told me, she’s ready to kick UNIT out of the country.”

“You finally spoke to her then?” Alice asked.  It still shocked her that her Dad and Tad spoke to the Queen on a regular basis.

“Yeah, and she wasn’t happy to find out all this was going on and that Green and his cronies were sending her doctored reports.  They’d even kept Sir Alistair out, which I think was worse.  Those two are like heterosexual life partners, I swear.”

Alice couldn’t help but laugh.  It bubbled up from what felt like her toes and it took her a few minutes to get back under control.  “Have you been reading TV Tropes or something?” she gasped, wiping her eyes.

“No,” Rhys answered, coming to stand beside Estelle, “that’s another thing we can blame Patrick for.  Are you sure you want to date him?”

“I’m not that bad!” the aforementioned Patrick exclaimed, kneeling beside Alice and shaking his head in denial.

“You really are, mate,” Rhys accused, laughing. 

“I may want to rethink this,” Alice chortled, reaching over and taking her boyfriend’s – okay, so maybe the term wasn’t _quite_ so bad – hand.

“Anyway,” Jack went on, “It was finally the UN making noises that got Lizzie’s attention.  Turns out Commodore Sullivan had poked NATO about what was going on, and the news made waves at the UN.  They were aware of the demands but hadn’t known that Green and his Cabinet were actually going to go through with it, and that UNIT had been involved.  She’s quite furious, of course.  I understand there will be charges against them all.  Oh, and a certain helicarrier is currently hovering over London, volunteering to help out.”

Patrick flinched.  “Better call the parents, then.  I bet I have a voice mail full of missed calls when I get my phone back from where I left it at Alice’s.”

“You know,” the dragon rumbled, “there are some of us who are trying to sleep.”

Alice glanced around her Dad, to find a pair of brilliant blue dragon eyes watching their little group.  They were a bit hazy, but who knew exactly what sorts of drugs Owen had pumped him full of?  She’d seen the large-bore needles the medic had had to use in order to inject the local anaesthetic in her Tad’s wing joint before resetting it.  The noise of the joint going back into place was something she never wanted to hear again, along with the roar of agony. 

“Yeah,” Owen’s acerbic voice floated over to the group.  “Quit waking up the dragon and have your conversations elsewhere.

Alice couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty over waking up her injured Tad, and it must have shown in her face because Ianto gave her a small smile. “It’s fine,” he said, “I think I’ve slept enough for the time being.”

“You better be all rested up for tomorrow,” Rhys warned, “because I managed to contact my friend at Harwood’s and he’s willing to come here to pick up the ‘load’.  And by load I mean one banged-up dragon.  It won’t be comfortable but at least we can get you home.”

Alice was glad that he wouldn't have to be staying there without Dad, and her body moved with the deep sigh Ianto let out at the news.  “Thank you, Rhys.  I really didn’t want to have to stay here until I could change shape.”  

“And this way we can at least set you up in the back garden,” Jack added.  He looked happier than Alice had seen him in…well, since the last time she’d seen him before all of this had started.

“Will your friend freak out when he sees Ianto?” Deborah asked, bringing up a tray full of mugs, the strong smell of coffee wafting around the group. 

“I notice no one asked me that when I arranged the original pick up,” Rhys exclaimed.  “But no, he’s a part of the local Cardiff coven.  He’s seen a lot of shit you wouldn’t believe.  Besides, Mam knows him and will vouch for him.”

“And if he does,” Jack said, “there’s always Retcon.”

It was a tribute to the fact that Alice was aware that Retcon was last resort for her Dad that she didn’t even react to the comment.

Deborah passed out the mugs, with Ianto looking at them pitifully.  “None for you, Dragon Boy,” Owen ordered.  “You’re on enough meds and caffeine will only mess you up further.”

“Besides,” Deborah said, “there isn’t a dragon-sized mug anywhere around.”

The dragon sighed, sounding very much put upon, and the rest of the team laughed. 

“We’ll have a lot to do when we get back to Cardiff,” Jack reminded them, “but for now I just want to say how proud I am of all of you.  It’s been an impossible week and you’ve all handled it magnificently.” 

Alice could swear she saw tears in her Dad’s eyes, and she reached up and grasped the hand that was up on her shoulder.  She squeezed it, and Jack leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“If you don’t mind,” Owen said, “I don’t think you need to be doing any of that mushy stuff around me.  I might catch something.”

“Like cooties?” Patrick joked.

“Or a soul,” Rhys added, grinning.

‘Fuck off the lot of you,” the medic growled. 

Alice couldn’t help but laugh.  The others did too, all at Owen’s expense, and he didn’t seem to mind at all.

 

**********

 

Jack watched as the sun set behind the mountains, wrapping a borrowed coat around himself as the chill began to set in.

He and Ianto were the only ones left on the green; the entire village, after having served a massive dinner that had been shared by everyone, had eventually all retired to their homes, wishing them good night.  Jack had thanked them all, grateful for these people more than he could say.  He knew, as long as Ddraig Llyn was standing, that he would have a home there, one that was unconditional and would always accept him.

He’d never really had that before…not that he could remember, at least.

Jack sighed, leaning back against his mate’s side.  Ianto’s steady breathing wasn’t deep enough to indicate he was asleep, even though Jack knew that the dragon had to have been exhausted.

“Tomorrow we go back to Cardiff,” he murmured.  “Goddess, there’s going to be so much to do…”

He wasn’t looking forward to it, especially with Ianto laid up.  They were a good team, and Jack hated working without his dragon there to help. 

“We’ll need to clean up our house,” the dragon said, equally quiet.

Jack flinched.  He’d forgotten that MI5 had wrecked their home in search of evidence against them. “And we’ll need to arrange to have the part of the hoard you had there brought back.”

“I…I don’t know if I want it back.  For someone to take a dragon’s hoard…it feels like a violation.”

The pain in Ianto’s voice had Jack wriggling closer, to comfort his mate.  “I understand, but we can’t let them keep it.  Even if you decide to give away what was taken, it’s not right that they get the use of it, not after what they’ve done.” 

Ianto sighed.  “You’re right, of course.  Perhaps I should put it up for auction, and start a new hoard.”

“That sounds like a plan.”  Jack closed his eyes, just enjoying the moment.  “In fact, maybe we should start our own hoard…together.”

The dragon was silent for a long time, and Jack would have guessed he’d finally fallen asleep if it weren’t for the suddenly rapid beating of his heart.  “Yes,” he answered, and Jack could hear hope and joy and love all in that single word.  “We are mates.  Our hoards should be mingled.”

“Then it’s a plan then.” 

It was silent for a while, with only the sounds of insects and the unmistakable call of Myfanwy echoing over the valley to keep them company. 

But then the dragon began to sing.

The song settled deep within Jack’s bones, claiming him in ways he never thought possible.  He’d thought their mating had been enough, but this was something different.  He truly relaxed for the first time in days.

Things would change tomorrow.  They would go back to Cardiff, and start helping to rebuild from the chaos that the last several days had caused.  It would be a long process, one that Jack wasn’t looking forward to, but it would need to be done. 

But, he had his family around him.  They would help in the days ahead, relieving much of the burden from Jack himself and coming together to set things right.  There would be meetings and arguments and far too much anger on all sides.  Jack knew it would be up to him and his people to soothe ruffled feathers and to make certain those who had been behind the entire mess got what they deserved.  And, in the end, they would do what was best for the people they were supposed to protect.

Somewhere, out there in space, there would come another threat, and Torchwood would be there to confront it.  That was their job, one that they did without hope of reward. 

But, until then, Jack would live his life with his mate and his family, and he would do everything in his power to protect them. 

The dragon’s song faded off into a single, calm note, and Jack smiled.

 

 

_Fin_


End file.
